victory in the vendee for france and armel le cleac‘h.lay is underway on day 5 of the australian open in melbourne and among those in action later will be the men's top seed and world number one andy murray. he's now the clear favourite to win the title, following novak djokovic‘s shock exit on thursday. murray plays on hisense arena against the american sam querrey and, after novak djokovic‘s defeat on thursday, murray doesn't want to be on the wrong end of another shock. yes, i haven't played for quite a while, it is obviously —— he is obviously a dangerous player, big serve, goes for it. he had a big win against novak djokovic in the third round not long ago. the women's top seed angelique kerber is also in action on friday. she continues the defence of her title against kristyna pliskova of the czech republic. i played once against her, i think a few years ago, and i know that she has a great serve as well. yeah, i am looking forward to playing against her. kerber against pliskova is the second match on the rod laver arena. at the mom

he's gone to around 80 miles behind the leader, armel le cleac‘h.e world record for the greatest distance sailed solo in 2a hours. a new record. his rival knows he's been hot on his tail. it seems he's been hot on his tail. it seems he will get his wish, a win from thompson now looks impossible, barring a major technical problem for armel le cleac‘h. but when thomson arrives back not only will his family be waiting for him, but his family be waiting for him, but his team also have promised to have one hand the two thinks he has craved during his epic voyage, a hot burger and a cold beer. natalie pirks, bbc news, bundy. —— vendee. conservative controlled surrey council is to hold a referendum on whether to increase council tax by 1596 whether to increase council tax by 15% to fund improved social care in the county. the council says it has a huge gap in its budget as a result of cuts from westminster. the area includes the constituencies of the chancellor and the health secretary. a new initiative has been announced to fight three deadly diseases sci

now he has broken the record, and reduced the gap on the leader, france's armel le cleac‘h.race, but not by the distance needed to make it official. a new 24—hour record. whoo! feels like a long time coming, obviously i should have broken it two months ago, ori should have broken it two months ago, or i did make it two months ago, or i did make it two months ago, but by less than one mile. you need to break it by more than one mile. so i'm very happy about that but really it is about trying to get as close to armel as possible. i'm struggling a little bit at the moment, not catching up as much as i would like. president barack 0bama welcomed the chicago cubs to the white house on monday, to celebrate their world series win. the president has a home in chicago, but he is a white sox fan. the cubs gave 0bama a baseball jersey with the number 44, a fitting gift for the nation's 44th president. richard mcelvanney has this report. he made many promises when he came to power in 2008, but not even president 0bama was brave enough to reject the chicago cubs winning the world series.

victory in the vendee for france and armel le cleac‘h.lian open in melbourne and among those in action later will be the men's top seed and world number one andy murray. he's now the clear favourite to win the title, following novak djokovic's shock exit on thursday. murray plays on hisense arena against the american sam querrey and, after novak djokovic's defeat on thursday, murray doesn't want to be on the wrong end of another shock. yes, i haven't played for quite a while, it is obviously —— he is obviously a dangerous player, big serve, goes for it. he had a big win against novak djokovic in the third round not long ago.

the gruelling solo journey was completed in a record 7a days by frenchman armel le cleac‘h.world economic forum in switzerland, theresa may tells business leaders that britain wants to forge a new role in the world after brexit.

welsh sailor alex thomson is in second, and armel le cleac‘h is in the lead. thomson was about 1000 miles behind. now the gap is a0 miles. both men are expected to finish at a fixed point on the atlantic coast of france on thursday morning. let's talk to chris eakin, author of a race too far, nice to see you, chris, a former colleague, talk us through these tactics. they have had to go north from sables—d'ollone because of the wind, and they have now made theirfinal because of the wind, and they have now made their final move, their final tack for home, they are looking at coming in a little bit later, tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening, and alex has slipped back a bit, now 57 miles behind, the last positional report. that is a she, and there is no doubt now that he can win through raw speed alone, he needs something to happen. but there isa needs something to happen. but there is a history of things happening at this stage of a race that has been going on for two and a half months, they are all clapped out, the boats and the skippers are tired, so you never

french skipper armel le cleac‘h, on board banque populaire, was on wednesday 180 nautical miles ahead toughness he has needed to summon up just to stay ahead in the race. thomson, who failed to finish in 2004 and 2008, said the biggest test was trying to pick up speed in his boat, hugo boss, when sailing through the becalmed doldrums. the race, which began in november, finishes on the west coast of france from next week. that is about all we have time for. let's recap our top story and nathan redmond goal was the only thing which separated southampton and liverpool, with the saints winning 1-0 liverpool, with the saints winning 1—0 in the opening leg of their english league cup semi—final. until next time, goodbye. hello. i know already some of you have seen some fairly wintry conditions. i think, over the next couple of days, that prospect becomes a good deal more widespread across the british isles. thursday dawns with still a lot of wind to be had across the northern half of the british isles, maybe not just as windy as wednesday was, and it is a cold start to the day. cold and dry

the gruelling solo journey was completed in a record 7a days by frenchman armel le cleac‘h.all from me now, stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to a special edition of hardtalk from moscow. i'm stephen sackur. for 17 years, one man has dominated the politics of the russian capital. vladimir putin. externally, he's projected russian power from ukraine to syria, and internally opposition has been repressed, intimidated and silenced. but not altogether. my guest today is the most prominent leader of russia's anti—putin opposition, alexey navalny. alexey navalny, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me here. you have been involved in opposition politics of one form or another for almost ten years, maybe more, and itjust seems to me that right now, your position is perhaps more dispiriting, more depressing than it's ever been before. do you agree? absolutely not. actually, ironically, i can call vladimir putin as my godfather in politics, because when he came to power and the way he talks and the way what he's saying, what he's doing, the l

the gruelling solo journey was completed in a record 7a days by frenchman armel le cleac‘h. of hardtalk from moscow.

thomson was within 33 nautical miles of the leader armel le cleac‘h of france yesterday. extended his lead and he's on course to smash the world record and arrive at the finish line at around 3:30pm our time this afternoon. thomson is expected cross the finish line later. and finally, british world champion rebecca gallantree has retired from diving. gallantree — furthest away from the camera — competed in herfirst international event in 2004 and went to three olympic games. she won gold at the 2014 commonwealth games in the women's three—metre synchronised springboard alongside alicia blagg. gallantree also won the team event at the 2015 world championships with tom daley. you can keep up—to—date with the stories and watch the masters snookerfrom london as neil robertson takes on ronnie o'sullivan, all on sport website. i will be back with more in the next hour. a local authority is to hold a referendum on plans to raise council tax by 15%. surrey county council says it will ask local people whether they support the increase, which would take a typical bill in the county

this time it's armel le cleac‘h, who crossed the finishing line off the west coast of france in a recordcond. 0ur sports correspondent natalie pirks reports from les sables d'0lonne. after ten unpredictable weeks in the world's most dangerous seas, a frenchman celebrating victory was a well—told story. what wasn't was the hampshire yachtsmen who gave him a real run for his money. for three months alex thomson has battled everything the ocean's thrown at him, eaten only freeze dried noodles, and survived on as little as 20 minutes sleep every few hours. at stake was his lifelong obsession of becoming the first briton to win this race. dame ellen macarthur also came second in 2001. when you've been at sea for that long and you know you're not going to win the race, and you're absolutely exhausted i think that's pretty brutal. so hopefully he'll have a smile at the finish line but it will have been very, very tough for him. thomson set off from here, les sables—d'0lonne, on 6th november heading out of this case down to the equator and into the south atlantic. he headed around antarctica, un

the race is reaching the sharp end — there are only a few days to go — armel le clee is leading but that and down. it could be a thriller. here is alex thomson. hello, everybody, a new 24 hour record. it feels like a long time coming. i should record. it feels like a long time coming. ishould have record. it feels like a long time coming. i should have broken it two months ago. well, i almost did, but less tha n months ago. well, i almost did, but less than by one mile. so very happy about that. really it is about trying to get as close to our man as possible and i am struggling a bit andi possible and i am struggling a bit and i am not catching him up as much asi and i am not catching him up as much as i would like. the race is expected to finish on thursday on the atlantic coast on france and all the atlantic coast on france and all the organisers are predicting a tight finish. let's switch from france to new york because squash is hosting the champion of champions. grand central station with the squash court right in the middle of it. this is the best rally from over the weekend. now

will get his wish, a win from thompson now looks impossible, barring a major technical problem for armellso have promised to have one hand the two things he has craved during his epic voyage, a hot burger and a cold beer. natalie pirks, bbc news, vendee. with the celebration going on, let's talk to natalie near the finish line. this has been an amazing race on so many line. this has been an amazing race on so many levels, hasn't it? it has been absolutely remarkable. there was a huge cheer when the winger crossed the line. he is very popular, a frenchman, no other nationality has ever won this race in its 27 year history. they know how close alex thomson ran him. fireworks were going off as he crossed the finish line. as he came down the canal but takes an hour to come into port, 100,000 people came to watch that. for alex thomson coming second, it can't be overstated how much of a feat that is. he is only the second briton to have come second in this challenge. ellen macarthur did that in 2001. let's put into perspective what this race involves. for ten weeks, alex hasn't seen another s

thomson was within 33 nautical miles of the leader armel le clayche of france yesterday.he world record. thomson is expected cross the finish line some four hours after the frenchman and arrive back in the early hours of tomorrow morning. that's all sport for now. we will be back with more in the next hour. more from you and others while. —— more from hugh. scientists are working to deal with three diseases which they fear could cause global health emergencies. a group of charities and governments has committed more than £370 million to develop vaccines for middle east respiratory syndrome, and the lassa and nipah viruses. these majestic creatures are believed to be spreading middle east respiratory syndrome, or mers. the virus was first identified in saudi arabia in 2012. around a third of those infected die. this lab in oxford is developing a vaccine to protect people against mers. it is one of the most advanced versions out there. if this vaccine does work, it could still take a decade to get it to those who need it. historically, money for these obscure vaccines has n

came second, in a time of 74 days, 19 hours and 35 minutes, about 16 hours behind the french winner armel race records, prior to being overtaken in december after a few problems with his boat. he matches dame ellen mcarthur‘s second placed finish in the race back in 2001. amazing to be finished. you never really know when it will actually happen. i realised a couple of hours before that i would definitely finish. it feels amazing. it is a long, long way and it is just great finally be there. i think 24 or 36 hours ago i knew that it was the end so hours ago i knew that it was the end so congratulations to the winner, what a great gracie is done, anti—religious debt. second twice and the first and that is a fantastic record. that's all the sport for now. we will get more now on our top story. donald trump is about to take up office as the leader of the united states. but how much do we really know about him? jayne mccubbin looks at things you might not have known about the businessman turned president. who is this man called trump? t is for trump, but his ancestral name, drumpf, is part ge

came second in a time of 74 days, 19 hours and 35 minutes, about 16 hours behind the french winner armelare amazing to be finished. you never knew really know when it is going to happen, i relied a couple of hours before that i was definitely going to finish. it is a long, long way, and it isjust great to finally be here. i think 24,36 hours ago, i knew that was the end, so hours ago, i knew that was the end, so congratulations, what a great race he has done, he really deserved it, so two seconds and a first, that isa it, so two seconds and a first, that is a great record, i think! it is fantastic. that is a brutal race. olly, thank you very much. s donald trump's policies will come under intense scrutiny in the early stages of his presidency. among the potentially divisive talking points are: plans to build a wall along the us—mexican border. stringent security checks on muslims entering the us. looking to move the us embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem. and then there's his relationship with russian president vladimir putin, which has proved worrying for some observers. so, ju

french skipper armel le cleac‘h wins the vendee globe solo round the world yacht good afternoon and welcome. theresa may has outlined her vision of a "truly global britain" during an address to business leaders at the world economic forum. the prime minister said the uk is facing a period of "momentous change" and must forge a new role. and she urged international businesses to behave more responsibly, by paying their fair share of tax, and recognising their duties to their staff. mrs may said the world economy must be made to work for everyone, as our business editor simonjack reports from davos. theresa may stepped out to face the global elite she has been so scathing about. an audience she acknowledged was still struggling to understand the referendum result. i know that this, and the other reasons britain took such a decision, is not always well understood internationally. particularly among our friends and allies in europe. some of our european partners feel that we have turned our back on them, and i know that many fear what our decision means for the future of the eu itself. but she