its the first of their eight games in the league phase, with teams potentially having to play up to 16 matches to reach the final in bilbao in may next year. it comes just a week since manchester city since manchester city midfielder midfielder rodri suggested that players could strike over fixture congestion. i think we're getting to a real sort of dangerous level of what our expectations are around players. and, you know, instead of sort of focusing on one or two tournaments, it's about the calendar. you know, that's more of an issue. players don't get a break between seasons anymore like they used to. there's more tournaments, both in international and at club level, at continental level. so, like i said, it's going to get to a point where, you know, we're not going to have the best players out there playing. and probably even worse is, you know, them breaking down for various reasons. so it's definitely something that needs to be addressed. so here are those nine matches kicking off later. two early fixtures, rangers

are in sweden to take on malmo, and fenerbah e play the belgian side union saint—gilloise. all those over on the bbc sport website. it's a big night of european football in the womens game as well with the second round of the champions league. just a few of them there, all those are second leg ties. psg looking to turn around a two goal defecit againstjuventus. manchester city shouldn't have too much trouble against paris, real madrid taking on sporting lisbon. british sides celtic and arsenal also look to have tricky games. again, full details of all those on the website. britain's jack draper is through to the last 16 of the japan open following a straight—set win over mattia bellucci. draper, who is now world number 20, beat the italian in straight sets for his first victory since defeat byjannik sinner in the us open semi—finals earlier this month. the victory marks a return to form for the 22—year—old after a disappointing davis cup in manchester where he lost his two singles matches.

he'll now play polish second seed hubert hurkacz on friday. usa's ben shelton fought back from a set down to beat fellow countryman reilly opelka 3—6, 6—1, 6—4. the defending champion will now face argentina's mariano navone in the second round. and in the china open, jannik sinner played his first match after winning the us open. the number one seed had to fight back from a set down to beat nicolas jarry with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 first—round victory. last year, the world number one, beat daniil medvedev to win the 500—level tournament. karolina muchova eased past anna blinkova 6—1, 6—1 in the first round. she will face home—favourite yue yuan in the next match. in the us, basketball superstar caitlin clark says she will return even stronger next season after the connecticut sun beat her side, indiana fever 87—81 to end her hopes of finishing her

rookie year with a wnba championship title. the 22—year—old, who was the number one overall draft pick went on to set numerous records in her debut campaign. it was special. there were a lot of things that this group accomplished that a lot of people probably didn't think was possible. i wanted to start the season after the start we had a... laughter it will definitely be a little weird for me of the course of the first couple of weeks, and i'm sure that i will get bored and pick up a basketball again. that is all of your now. elon musk has given a scathing response on x after the bbc revealed he hadn't been invited to the government's international investment summit next month. mr musk said he didn't think anyone should go to the uk when they were "releasing

convicted paedophiles "in order to imprison people for social media posts". he didn't cite any evidence for his claim. with the latest here's our economics editor faisal islam. the context for this is for the new government, absolutely essential, in terms of their agenda, which is to get lots of investment in the industries of the future. times are tight in terms of public money. you need international investors. there will be 300 of them in the uk in the middle of october. you would think that in the sectors they are particularly focused on, electric vehicles, ai, perhaps space industry as well. elon musk is a leading entrepreneur in the world. we would be a leading candidate to attend. he was invited by the previous government last year and took a starring role in the ai summit posted hosted by

rishi sunak rishi sunak interviewed him for you tube. this is a tricky one when the same guy who does that posts a whole load of inflammatory comments on his own website that he owns, and his personal site, in the middle of some serious social disorder and rioting in august. and my understanding is that there wasn't an invite and that it wasn't an invite and that it was connected to that series of posts. it wasn't thought thinkable he could be at the summit and that he would be a distraction. so yes, we reported back. he has responded in typical elon musk fashion by doubling down on some of what he said over the summer and saying: nobody should go. that suggests a boycott, counter bow cut. this is very tricky in terms of the government decision making. on one hand it is the same old spat but on the other hand it goes to the heart of when you are going to be so dependent on foreign investments, where are the

boundaries and the red lines? there are lots of people from governments where there are questions about human rights records who will be welcoming them with open arms of uk and whose investments from their massive funds will be welcomed. on this occasion, no invitation. on the other hand, i have been contacted by the former chancellor, jeremy hunt, who assures me that elon musk has got no intention to invest in the uk so it isn't a great loss thatjeremy hunt is saying to me that when he last spoke to me that when he last spoke to elon musk as a chancellor at the ai summit that he did say that he was going to invest in a second european tesla gigafactory for vehicles and batteries after he built his mexican one and that the uk was a top candidate. so, this is pretty tricky stuff. we know that hasn't come out of the wash that he's been invited to the summit, but it shows there is some jeopardy the summit, but it shows there is somejeopardy and the summit, but it shows there is some jeopardy and decisions and judgment to be made here.

is a bay is the government could say that they have 300 other people coming, elon musk is pretty add syncretic and unpredictable. —— elon musk is pretty idiosyncratic. unpredictable. -- elon musk is pretty idiosyncratic.— pretty idiosyncratic. they have- - - _ pretty idiosyncratic. they have... there _ pretty idiosyncratic. they have... there is - pretty idiosyncratic. they have... there is a - pretty idiosyncratic. they i have... there is a judgment pretty idiosyncratic. they - have... there is a judgment to be made here, and i don't think they want to make a fuss about it. they don't want this to be the defining factor in town so deeply important summit for their economic agenda. but, a decision, as far as i have been informed, has been made, and we got a response today from the man himself.— man himself. faisal islam talkin: man himself. faisal islam talking to _ man himself. faisal islam talking to me _ man himself. faisal islam talking to me earlier. - injapan, the world's longest—serving death row prisoner has been acquitted — more than a half a century after his conviction in a quadruple murder. a former boxer, iwao hakamada had been found guilty of killing his boss, the man's wife and their children — back in the 1960s.

but the new evidence proved him to be innocent. the case has been one ofjapan s most high—profile legal sagas, our tokyo correspondent shaimaa khalil reports. saul lehrfreund is co—founder of ngo the death penalty project. i asked him about hakamada's health after being incarcerated for so long. this is not surprising, that iwao hakamada is struggling with his mental and physical health. he was detained for 46 years on death row in solitary confinement under 24—hour surveillance. one of the very harsh features of the death penalty injapan is that they are simply not given any nodes of execution. executions are carried out in secret. iwao hakamada would have woken up every day and it could have been his last day. we lived under the psychological pressure, as mentioned under the report, for nearly 50 years. the report, for nearly 50 ears. ., ., years. there are other prisoners _ years. there are other prisoners on _ years. there are other prisoners on death - years. there are other.

prisoners on death row, years. there are other- prisoners on death row, what you think is the significance of this case?— you think is the significance of this case? the case is very significant- — of this case? the case is very significant. not _ of this case? the case is very significant. not many - of this case? the case is very significant. not many people | significant. not many people are aware that japan still retains and uses the death penalty. hopefully, there will be some serious conversations about what is actually happening injapan. there are currently 106 people on death row injapan. executions row in japan. executions happen. row injapan. executions happen. the last execution happen. the last execution happen injuly 2022. but, not feeling about that case was that the individual executed was actually attempting to reopen his case and to attempt a retrial. he was executed while the retrial was pending. features about the death penalty system in japan features about the death penalty system injapan needs serious conversation. i penalty system in japan needs serious conversation.- serious conversation. i think i'm right _ serious conversation. i think i'm right in _ serious conversation. i think i'm right in saying _ serious conversation. i think i'm right in saying that - i'm right in saying that something like 80% of the japanese people agree with the death penalty. are there moves which may be given more ammunition after this case to

abolish the death penalty in japan? abolish the death penalty in ja an? . abolish the death penalty in jaan? . , abolish the death penalty in jaan? ., , �*, japan? that is the government's consistent _ japan? that is the government's consistent line, _ japan? that is the government's consistent line, that _ japan? that is the government's consistent line, that surveys - consistent line, that surveys they carry out show 80% of the population return a decision that the death penalty is unavoidable. in other surveys carried out by academics, we find that 71% of that retention is the 80% would accept abolition if the government was to end the death penalty in japan. so, ithink to end the death penalty in japan. so, i think that public opinion is really an excuse rather than a justification for the continued use of capital punishment.— the continued use of capital unishment. . , ., punishment. that is it from me. i need to punishment. that is it from me. i need to is _ punishment. that is it from me. i need to is up _ punishment. that is it from me. i need to is up next. _ punishment. that is it from me. i need to is up next. you're - i need to is up next. you're watching bbc news. hello there. good afternoon. well, it will turn colder and drier into the weekend, but in the meantime, plenty more heavy rain to come

in the forecast. and there are still a number of flood warnings in force, too, mostly across central england, where we've seen the recent flooding. and of course, the ground is saturated. more rain piling into northeastern areas of england on a brisk easterly wind stretching right across to northern ireland to the north, across scotland, largely dry away from the far north, some brighter skies. but for england and wales, heavy, thundery showers. they could be slow moving and merge at times. temperatures milder in the south, much cooler across scotland. we're seeing a developing northerly wind, but this is the area of most concern tonight. this amber warning issued for a full 12 hours from 6:00 tonight until 6:00 on friday morning within the amber weather warning area. we could see 30 to 40mm of rain within three hours, double that within a six hour period. it will lead to some more flooding. that all sinks its way further southwards as we head through tonight. a cold northerly wind developing, chillier feeling air, temperatures dropping back into single figures for many and even out towards the south and the east. we'lljust see 10 or 11 degrees, but there'll be some cloud and rain here into tomorrow morning.

still, this is the picture on friday, you can see that northerly wind start to develop and of course a drierfeeling conditions as well, with a few showers and some brightness, but still wet and cloudy to start the day across east anglia, southeast england. that all clears away by the time we get to lunchtime for most of us, and there will be some sunshine developing sunshine elsewhere to a few showers, particularly for coastal areas and towards far north of scotland. it's feeling colder, 9 to 13 c and it's more of the same as we head through the weekend. look at this high pressure start to build in on friday night from the southeast. that means lighter winds, so there could be a touch of frost, particularly for northern england, scotland, northern ireland as we head into saturday morning, a localised frost further south, a drier looking day on saturday. there will be some brightness around, still some cloud and a few showers out towards the far north and west across irish sea coast, and these temperatures probably no higher than 11 to 15 c. so a different feel to things as we head into the weekend. sunday looking cloudier, still some brighter spells at times.

unsettled, wet and windy for many on sunday night.

live from beirut. this is bbc news. israel's prime minister tells the military to keep fighting lebanon's hezbollah with full force — despite calls from world leaders for a 21—day ceasefire. there's been a large explosion in the southern

suburbs of beirut — as the israeli military said it was carrying out what it called "precise strikes" in the lebanese capital. i'll have all the latest from our correspondents in the region and at the united nations. also in the headlines... police in london say they're looking to see if anyone else can be pursued for criminal offences relating to sexual assault and rape claims made against former harrods owner mohamed al fayed. and injapan, the world's longest—serving prisoner on death row has been acquitted — more than half a century after his conviction. hello, you are watching bbc news. i'm anna foster. let me bring you up—to—date with what

has been happening here.