of course we have to try again and sooner or later we will turnit and sooner or later we will turn it around. i and sooner or later we will turn it around.— and sooner or later we will turn it around. i don't know when, turn it around. i don't know when. some _ turn it around. i don't know when, some in _ turn it around. i don't know when, some in the - turn it around. i don't know when, some in the squad i turn it around. i don't know. when, some in the squad for a long time, i don't know if they are ready for tomorrow. and we have to continue, that is what we have to do. tottenham manager ange postecoglou says several senior players could be missing for this weekend's premier league game against liverpool after a make—shift spurs side beat manchester united 4—3 in the quarter—finals of the english league cup. liverpool will also be their opponents in the two—legged semi—final, though the sides meet at the tottenham hotspur stadium on sunday first. in his pre—match press conference, postecoglou's opposite number arne slot was full of praise about the australian's managment style. iam i am completely a fan of his team for the europa league.

people talk about trophies, trophies, that is so important now full stop for me, his brand of football, his style of football is so much more important. you could combine it with winning they could be so good blue, forfootball in general, people goods but talking about this. how could you play attacking football? southampton are expected to appoint ivanjuric as their new manager on an 18—month deal. it follows the sacking of russell martin with the club currently bottom of the premier league and nine points from safety. juric was sacked by roma last month after 12 games, and was on the shortlist to replace ralph hasenhuttl as southampton boss two years ago. he's 49 and had an impresssive three—year spell in charge of torino. he's unlikely to be in post for this weekend 5 match against fulham on sunday. oleksandr usyk and tyson fury�*s highly awaited rematch on saturday is nearly upon us — in a few hours we'll have the weigh in — in riyadh. that follows

thursday's press conference where we saw perhaps the longest face off in boxing history, neither would back down. it was over 11 minutes before fury began taunting usyk, and they were eventually separated. usyk defeated fury by split decision in march, to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years. former world champion oscar de la hoya is backing fury to win this one. i like tyson fury. i love usyk, he is a tremendous heavyweight champion. he went on to the first fight, determined with a great game plan. i really think tyson fury was not in that fight the first time. now coming into the second fight as a loser, that mentality is going to take him over the top. ifeel he will win going to take him over the top. i feel he will win by a knockoutin i feel he will win by a knockout in the later rounds. lebronjames has broken the record for the most minutes played in nba history. he helped the los angeles lakers beat the sacramento kings 113—100. the 39—year—old surpassed

kareem abdul—jabbar when he completed his — wait for it — 57, 4a7th minute on court, having also beaten abdul—jabbar�*s all—time scoring record earlier this year. it's a pretty cool honour, obviously, any time i'm linked with some of the greats that have ever played this game. and to know i've been available to my team—mates, i've been able to do this at a high level over two decades and continue to put myself in record books in this game of basketball that i love so much in the best league in the world it's pretty cool and it's very, very humbling. (tx sot) and that's all the sport for now, back to you, geeta. some breaking news now from syria. in the last few minutes we've just had a statement from the united states central command saying that the leader of is — abu yusif — has been killed in an air strike, alongside another operative. the strike took place on thursday in deir ezzor province in eastern syria.

we know the troops have had —— we know the us have had troops in that area and we don't know whether donald trump will keep us troops in syria once he takes office, but there has been a big operation of air strikes chilling to ias operatives including the isa leader, abu yusif, in syria. that news just leader, abu yusif, in syria. that newsjust coming leader, abu yusif, in syria. that news just coming to us and it comes as a us delegation is also in syria and they have met the hts leader, we are expecting a news conference in the coming hours with an update from them as well. we will keep you updated on that, there is more online. let me also just bring you breaking news from the uk, because the list of people nominated to become a peen people nominated to become a peer, a life peer, go into the house of lords has been announced. sue gray, that civil servant who investigated party

gate and went on to become key a* has gone on to become a life peer and she is in the published list of those who have been granted peerages this december. other names you might know, a former mp for waiver treat and the chairman of the mental health alliance. the former labour mp of course. also the senior members of the labour party, thang debonair who lost her seat and did not make it into cabinet. anji hunter, a senior adviser to tony blair. of course in the days of government. deborah martinson, a for their adviser to keir starmer, in opposition, helping him to win the election this year. former adviser also to gordon brown. claude murray a former european member of parliament. some of the names

from the labour party. just mention a couple from the conservatives. joanne cash, co—founder of... people will be pouring in with those names. the nominations for the leader of the conservative party going into the house of lords. zoe ball has described presenting radio 2's breakfast show as "an absolute privilege", as she signed off for the last time. the 54—year—old announced her departure in november, after six years behind the mic. kylie minogue and david tennant were among the stars on her final programme. here's our culture reporter noor nanji. another day, another destiny. one final show from me, zb. onlyjoking, i'm not going to sing! let's have some daft punk. and so it began, zoe ball's last radio 2 show, filled with tributes, including from her colleagues. i am going to miss waking up

with you every single morning. my massive cavalier hat is doffed to you. you are an absolute gem. she also reflected on what it all meant to her. it's been such a gift to show can do this show, to follow wonderful terry and of course chris, tough acts to follow. pretty cool to be the first lass to host, and i won't be the last. remember, girls, you can do anything. zoe ball has been a fixture on british tv and radio for decades. she presented the saturday morning children's show alive and kicking in the 905. in 1998, she became the first female host of the radio i breakfast show, and she also became radio 2's first full—time female rep as presenter when she took over from chris evans in 2019. she was listed as the bbc�*s highest paid on—air female presenter in the last year with a salary of around £950,000. in november she told her millions of listeners that she was leaving the show to focus on her family. what is next, zoe? going to see my kids

and having a lovely christmas. her replacement will be scott mills, someone who, for a quarter of a century, has been a familiar voice on radio i and more recently radio 2. it's been a challenging few years, with the bbc losing audiences to well resourced commercial stations. but throughout, zoe ball has presented the most popular breakfast show in the uk. she is staying with radio 2, but details of her next show are yet to be announced. but today it was time to say goodbye to her breakfast audience, with a final tribute from her son woody. hey, mum, you have done an amazing job on the breakfast show and i want to say thank you for making everyone's mornings a bit more magic and here is to a healthier sleeping schedule. # because i need . you today, oh, zoe. noor nanji, bbc news. wishing her and her crew a happy christmas. let me just bring you some news on paul

watson, who is an anti—whaling activist. he has been freed today. these are pictures of him arriving in france after five months in detention in greenland pending an x tradition demand from japan. he was released on tuesday denmark refused the extradition request after a 2010 clash with whalers. he landed today in paris and as you see he was wheeling his luggage through the airport as the supporters were there to greet him. tokyo had accused him of entering a crew member with a stink bomb during a clash with a sea vessel back in 2010. they had had proof that he was not on deck when the bomb was thrown. that is paul watson who is an anti—whaling activist who had

has been freed. we are back with more in the next few minutes. matthew will be with you but from me, bye for now. hello there. today showers are following a band of rain that's moving across the country and it's breezy too, but, over the weekend, the winds are going to be much stronger. it could well bring with it some travel disruption and the air is turning colder, so the showers that will be pushing in will be turning wintry by the time we get to sunday. we've got this area of cloud. everything is rattling in from the atlantic. this area of cloud will be arriving overnight. this is the cloud that's been bringing the rain today and keeping temperatures around about nine or ten degrees after what was quite a cold start across some eastern parts of the uk. it's across eastern parts of england that we'll see that rain to end the day. that moves away. skies will clearfor just a short while. then that area of cloud comes in from the atlantic fairly quickly.

it'll bring some more rain in from the west and the winds starting to pick up, as well. so probably not quite as cold as it was last night for the eastern side of the uk. temperatures will be down to around six or seven degrees. the windy weather on saturday is going to be more across the northern half of the uk. widely gusts 50 to 60mph, it could be getting close to 80mph in the far north of scotland. very windy conditions, though, across the whole of the uk. this is all that's left of the rain as it moves down into southern parts of england. showers following on behind and those beginning to turn wintry over the hills in northern scotland, where it's going to be very, very windy. we've got temperatures in scotland and northern ireland falling away to seven or eight degrees. further south just about making double figures. but the air is getting colder through the weekend. we are drawing in polar maritime air, the air coming all the way from greenland and iceland. it's that area of low pressure running to the north of scotland that's bringing the really windy weather. further south it will

be windier on sunday. it will be windy across eastern parts of england, but it's elsewhere that we will see those winds gusting widely 50 to 60mph, perhaps a little bit stronger than that. squally showers coming in and those will be heavy, possibly thundery, and there will be some wintriness in there, as well. some hail too. frequent showers coming into northern parts of scotland. another windy day on sunday and it will feel colder, as well. widely those temperatures at sixes and sevens. so getting colder over the weekend, but heading into the christmas week temperatures are going to be rising. milderair coming infrom the atlantic, less windy, many places will be dry, but pretty cloudy.

a live from london, this is bbc news. a us government shutdown looms after dozens of republicans vote against a spending bill vote against a spending bill backed by donald trump. backed by donald trump. the labour grandee lord the labour grandee lord mandelson is expected to be mandelson is expected to be named as the uk's next ambassador to the us. us diplomats make their first official visit to damascus in more than a decade for talks with syria's new islamist leadership. at least one child has been killed and several others injured in a knife attack at a primary school in croatia's capital. and the face—off lasted 11 minutes and 20 seconds. now all eyes on usyk and fury ahead of their hugely anticipated rematch tomorrow.