the cricket world cup by thrashing afghanistan. jenni hermoso is named in the spain squad for the first time since winning the world cup. the semifinals of the rugby world cup are approaching. we'll bring you the teams for the huge match between argentina and new zealand. now, new zealand continued their winning run at the cricket world cup with a thumping 149—run win over afghanistan in chennai. afghanistan had the better of the early proceedings, taking three wickets in nine balls to leave new zealand struggling at "0—4. but a solid partnership between captain tom latham and glenn phillips of over 100 steered them towards a 288 total.

the bowlers then took over with a clinical performance as afghanistan were all out for 139 in reply. we know that every game is a tough game. afghanistan today was no different. you know, we obviously started off pretty well but there was moments in the game there where, you know, we were kind of battling a little bit and it was kind of on a knife edge for a while so it was nice to get to a score, i guess, the partnership between tom and gp was massive for us and then, you know, the pressure of the new bowl always helps. we know afghanistan are a quality side and they showed that the other day. manchester united's hopes of a first appearance in the group stage of the women's champions league were ended by defeat to paris st—germain in the second round of qualifying. marc skinner's side came into the second leg in the french capital optimistic of getting past the two—time finalists after having come back to draw

1—1 in last week's first leg at leigh sports village. but despite a decent display, they were undone by a superior psg side. elsewhere, glasgow city never looked like overturning norwegian side brann�*s commanding first—leg advantage. the draw for the group stage takes place on friday with last season's women's super league winners chelsea, britain's sole representative. jenni hermoso has been named in the spain squad for the first time since winning the world cup. former spanish football federation president luis rubiales kissed hermoso during the world cup trophy presentation, which she says was not consensual. rubiales eventually resigned and was given a restraining order. liverpool and egypt forward mohamed salah has called for "world leaders to come together to prevent further "slaughter of innocent souls" amid the ongoing israel—gaza conflict. health officials said hundreds of people were killed by an explosion at a crowded hospital in gaza city on tuesday night. salah posted on social media

and said humanitarian aid to gaza must be allowed "immediately". newcastle united have confirmed their midfielder sandro tonali is being investigated by the italian prosecutor's office and the italian football federation in relation to alleged illegal betting activity. it's after tonali was withdrawn from italy's training camp. newcastle say the 23—year—old is co—operating with the enquiry and that he and his family would continue to receive the club's full support. tonali and aston villa's nicolo zaniolo recently left italy's training camp for their euro qualifiers against malta and england after being told they were involved in an investigation by italian prosecutors. tonali has been capped 15 times by italy. now, brazilian star neymar is to undergo surgery after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee. the 31—year—old picked up the injury while on international

duty for his country on tuesday in their 2—0 defeat to uruguay. his club, saudi arabia's al—hilal, have not said how long he is expected to be out for. earlier this year, czech republic midfielder jakubjankto came out publicly as gay, becoming the first current international male footballer to do so, posting a social media video to tell his story. he's spoken to the bbc about his decision and how much better he feels now that he's not hiding who he is any more. after six? yeah, five or six months, i can tell it wasn't a mistake. if i can do it again, ijust wanted to do it because it helped myself, i think i helped many people and thousands, i don't know how many people. also, i think it was a huge moment for all footballers from a professionals perspective,

rugby, mini professionals play rugby, mini professionals play rugby and they thanked me for these messages. i think it's a really good positive and a good positive example for everybody >> many professionals play. now i can play without any hide or any scare that i had always feared, for example, somebody read a message or see a photo from a guy and at this moment, nothing is happening, wejust carry on like nothing happening and i'm really happy for that, so yeah, i'm really happy and good to do it. winger mark telea is back in the new zealand side for the all blacks' rugby world cup semifinal against argentina. telea was dropped for the quarterfinal victory over ireland after a breach of team protocol. his return is one of two changes to ian foster's starting 15 for friday's semifinal, with sam whitelock

coming into the second row. we've learnt to respect argentina and for them, playing for their country, argentina and for them, playing fortheir country, it argentina and for them, playing for their country, it clearly means a lot. they are perhaps an underrated team worldwide that has got a really rich history of perhaps overachieving at world cup and done a fantasticjob to get here at the same level we are so it's going to be a heck of a game. we have to improve our performance because the stage gets bigger and bigger at this time of the tournament and you've got to grow your game and that's our strong focus and the fact is that we know, and we've said it before the irish game, it's the best team on the night that wins it and we know argentina has done that to us so, but we not buying into anything about favouritism or underdogs or whatever. it doesn't make any difference us. we know we have to perform at

our best and that's the only way we are approaching that game. the winner of that first semifinal will play either england or south africa in the final at the stade de france. scrum half danny care has featured in four of england's five games, including sunday's nail—biting quarterfinal win over fiji. i think ithinka i think a lot has changed in four years. we are a completely different team and i think they are a different team and i think they are playing slightly different way. so much respect for them as a team and their coaches. i think they've tweaked and deducted their game and there isn't many weaknesses there for us to go after. i think we've got to be incredibly respectful of them, which we are, and also try to focus on ourselves a bit this week. our game is slowly, i think, getting better and better. we've shown glimpses of really good stuff and stuff that we could definitely improve on. we know that if we can get our game on the pitch, we can hopefully cause them some problems but we are fully aware of the mammoth task stake

but we are excited for it. investigators into snookers largest ever match—fixing scandal have told the bbc that a "perfect storm" of corruption — money troubles, cultural issues and the covid—i9 lockdown — led to the scandal. liang wenbo and li hang were given lifetime bans, while eight others, including major winners yan bingtao and zhao xintong, were handed suspensions. it's hoped that will act as a deterrent to potential cheats. bbc sport has been given access to the investigation and a company that monitors suspicious betting patterns. you are looking at the most common things, you know, outright winner, frame handicap and totals markets. some of the more side markets, so correct score was a big one, so actually betting on the score so you can, for example, four frames to one. yeah, and the frames to one. yeah, and the

frame winner and other potential side markets they could manipulate. we have seen evidence, as the investigation progressed, that they were aware of odds monitoring and had an understanding of how it works so we've even had examples where we believe manipulation was caught off based on a movement in the odds, they'd seen the odds shift and therefore, they knew that would be detected and therefore they called off their plans to fix the match. the behaviour _ plans to fix the match. the behaviour of _ plans to fix the match. the behaviour of some - plans to fix the match. the behaviour of some individuals in this— behaviour of some individuals in this last case was absolutely despicable. especially older players who had had _ especially older players who had had a good career. you are using _ had had a good career. you are using young, vulnerable players to do— using young, vulnerable players to do the — using young, vulnerable players to do the dirty work. it's absolutely despicable. we are constantly reviewing our processes, constantly looking at how — processes, constantly looking at how do we keep on top of this— at how do we keep on top of this but_ at how do we keep on top of this but it's notjust a snooker problem, this is a worldwide sport problem. we are a sport— worldwide sport problem. we are a sport that stands out and actually _ a sport that stands out and actually says we have got a problem. here it is. this is what — problem. here it is. this is what we're going to do about

it. ~ , ., , what we're going to do about it. as a sport, i think we are incredibly — it. as a sport, i think we are incredibly clean _ it. as a sport, i think we are incredibly clean and - it. as a sport, i think we are incredibly clean and the - it. as a sport, i think we arej incredibly clean and the vast majority of players are there try to make a living try to do well as a sport and it's unfortunate when you get a corrupt influence, such as we had here, and money came into play with that and other things. play with that and other thin . s. , play with that and other thins. , .., , play with that and other thin.s_ , . ., , , things. they cause this. the dama . e things. they cause this. the damage due _ things. they cause this. the damage due to _ things. they cause this. the damage due to the - things. they cause this. the damage due to the sport - things. they cause this. the | damage due to the sport and damage _ damage due to the sport and damage you _ damage due to the sport and damage you do _ damage due to the sport and damage you do to _ damage due to the sport and damage you do to yourself. damage due to the sport and i damage you do to yourself and your— damage you do to yourself and your family— damage you do to yourself and yourfamily and _ damage you do to yourself and your family and if _ damage you do to yourself and your family and if you - damage you do to yourself and your family and if you do - damage you do to yourself and your family and if you do it, i your family and if you do it, evidence _ your family and if you do it, evidence shows _ your family and if you do it, evidence shows overtime, i your family and if you do it, i evidence shows overtime, will -et evidence shows overtime, will get caught _ evidence shows overtime, will get caught and _ evidence shows overtime, will get caught. and so, _ evidence shows overtime, will get caught. and so, why- evidence shows overtime, willi get caught. and so, why would you do— get caught. and so, why would you do it? _ get caught. and so, why would you do it? so _ get caught. and so, why would you do it? so i _ get caught. and so, why would you do it? so i think— get caught. and so, why would you do it? so i think our- you do it? so i think our message _ you do it? so i think our message is— you do it? so i think our message is quite - you do it? so i think our. message is quite powerful. you can get all the latest sports news from the bbc sport app, orfrom our website. from me and the rest of the team, goodbye. hello there. well, storm babet continues to push northwards across the uk. its impacts are likely to be felt for much of the rest of the week. in fact, the met office has issued its highest level of alert. it's a rare red warning in force for rain, valid from 6

o'lock on thursday evening right through until midday on friday. it's for north—eastern areas of scotland, parts of angus and southern aberdeenshire. the totals are really going to start to stack up. the rain is quite widespread across the uk as we head through the rest of the week but nowhere more so than across north—eastern areas of scotland, where there could be as much as two months�* worth of rainfall by the time we get to the end of the day on friday — around 200—250mm of rain. and that heavy rain is moving northwards — this is storm babet, of course. the winds are strengthening out towards the east coast of scotland. gusts of wind here of around 70 miles an hour. the winds lightening towards the south. it's turning drier here. it is a mild start to the day but, of course, the temperatures are largely academic. and so, that rain will continue to push northwards as we head through the morning. sunshine and showers, some of the showers possibly heavy and thundery across england and wales. the rain will start to turn very heavy, very persistent. it aligns with that strong south—easterly wind as we head through the day on thursday and it willjust keep coming

as we come into thursday night and friday morning itself. so, that south—easterly wind driving more rain, acting as a kind of conveyor belt. and there are wider amber weather warnings in force across scotland as well, another one for rain across caithness and sutherland, and this one is for wind, too. now, with that brisk south—easterly wind, it's not the prevailing wind direction, so there could be some trees down, likely to be some impacts from these strong, gusty winds. but this, of course, is of most concern within the red warning area. now, there could be some extensive flooding, possibly some deep, fast—flowing floodwater, maybe some structural damage as well. some very tricky travelling conditions as well, so dangerous for travel. and then, we see a second area of low pressure. that's just going to enhance the rainfall a little further, i think, on friday. but then, as that low pressure builds through, we still see these gusty winds out towards the east coast. the focus of that rain will tend to be across central areas of england, down through parts of wales and particularly the south east

of england as we head towards the end of the day. still very windy for eastern coasts, but at least the rain lightens across scotland. do keep tuned to the forecast.

live from washington, this is bbc news. a glimmer of hope for the suffering in gaza — egypt says it will open up the rafah crossing, to allow some aid to reach civilians. that deal was part of president biden�*s visit to israel, where he pledged unwavering us support. the british prime minister

rishi sunak is on his way to israel, as part of the diplomatic efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading across the region. huge protests continue in the middle east, with high tensions across the region, as the death toll in gaza surpasses 3,000. hello. i'm sumi somaskanda. it is great to have you with us. it is great to have you with us. more blame and bloodshed in gaza, as world leaders step up efforts to prevent the war from spilling into the wider region. as us president biden returns to washington, prime minister rishi sunak is on his way to israel. there, he will meet with israel's pm benjamin netanyahu on thursday, adding to the push for humanitarian aide to be delivered quickly. that aid is set to start trickling in, through egypt. egyptia president abdel fattah el—sisi says the country will establish a "sustainable" aid corridor using the rafah

crossing, which connects egypt to gaza.