there is ben stokes, joss butler. all of them expected to light up this edition of the league.cs. four—time olympic champion simone biles has hinted that she may continue in gymnastics until the paris 2024 games. the american said she would retire after the tokyo olympics, however, two of her coaches are french and may have persuaded her not to rule it out. biles also said she was making every effort to get her family to tokyo, despite no foreign spectators allowed. she also emphasised how important it was to have the vaccine. i have not been one to make it my time, i would like to be vaccinated, i think it is up to athletes to become advocates for that so we can stay safe and healthy. and we can have a good game. and i think it will be really exciting once the time comes, so deftly approve a being vaccinated. ifeel time comes, so deftly approve a being vaccinated. i feel very confident it is going to happen and it is going to be a good game. definitely never competed without my family there and i have showed how my mum is going to get a credential or the media or something, sh

ben stokes' rajasthan royals side are struggling in their chase against the punjab kings.lyjust though, despite a mix—up in the field! they're they�* re currently they're currently 170 after 16 over. five live the place to go for commentary of that match. i'm sure most of us have been looking forward to today, the next step of lockdown easing. i'll be making the most of it straight after this shift. i've really missed the gym. indoor pools and leisure centres have also reopened, giving a huge boost for recreational sport. here's our correspondentjoe wilson. monday morning in birmingham, jeremy sharp is finally back where he belongs — a gym session after the pool. he exercised for 30 years, week in, week out — until lockdown. jeremy has cerebral palsy. he need fitness for crucial mobility, to keep the life he wants to live. the activities many people turned to during lockdown simply weren't possible forjeremy — he needs to be here. it is absolutely brilliant. i actually got quite emotional about it first thing this morning, which i didn't expect to do. moving my muscles at

england all—rounder ben stokes is set to be out for up to 12 weeks after an x—ray and scan showed hea doubt for england's white ball games against sri lanka and pakistan later injune. stokes was injured whilst playing in the indian premier league earlier this week, and will fly home tomorrow with his surgery set for monday. in formula one, valterri bottas was fastest in second practice. at the emilia romagna grand prix, the mercedes driver was just point zero one seconds faster than this team—mate lewis hamilton, with pierre gasly in third. charles leclerc meanwhile had set the fastest lap, only to lose it for exceeding track limits. things got worse when he ended up crashing in the closing seconds and disappointment for red bull's max verstappen too, who suffered a mechanical failure early in the session. and... there are three matches in rugby league's super league tonight. big wins for both castleford and champions st helens. and hull kingston rovers narrowly beat huddersfield by 25 points to 2a but the match will be remembered for a little bit of history. take a look at this. thi

and an injury blow for england cricketer ben stokes gemma will have those details in sports. all the recent early spring wards is being squeezed out of europe but he's still there in western russia and the reason really is because the years will be coming in from the north for her in this cold fronts or most places the western single figures as hard tempted by a day a few perks the east the teens serving here for example but moscow's at 22 so we're pushing the code in this direction we're doing with this from the snowed for the snow that's going to fall on wednesday in poland slovakia for example right here is probably going to retrogress and come back towards west and probably even germany come thursday this area is turning will stay cold if you like the cold extends down to least dalton greece so greece looks quite well so there's some part of fronts but for most of us it's also a very pretty picture. it's even turning wet in spain and portugal that border one of the boys place in france in his you'll see that colored wooden boards from the north and northeast dropped inter

ben stokes has this evening been named wisden�*s leading cricketer of the year again.. stokes captained the england for the first time last summer and scored 641 test runs — more than anyone else in world cricket. and kent's darren stevens has become the oldest person since 1933 to be named as one of wisden�*s five cricketers of the year. the 44—year—old is the fourth—oldest recipient of all—time. the award, which players can only receive once, is for performances or influence on the english summer. and that's all the sport for now. have a very good night. hello there. it's going to be another cold night tonight with some clearer skies developing. when we did have the sunshine earlier on today, there was a bit of heat in that sun this time of year, so it felt quite pleasant. but just to show you how the weather's changed here in south wales — same location, but move things on into the afternoon and there's much more cloud around. we had cloud building up today, producing 1—2 showers across more southern and western areas, even though we've got high pressure in charge,

england all—rounder ben stokes will be out of action for three months.l miss the test series against new zealand — and is also a doubt for england's limited overs matches against sri lanka and pakistan later in june. and max verstappen suffered a mechanicalfailure, in practice for this weekend's emilia romagna grand prix. fi champion lewis hamilton was second fastest in practice, just behind mercedes team—mate valterri bottas here — oualifying is tomorrow. the legendary former wales and british and irish lions captain and coachjohn dawes has died at the age of 80. dawes won 22 caps for wales, captaining them six times and leading them to the grand slam in 1971. he also captained the lions on the 1971 winning tour of new zealand. as coach of wales, dawes won four five nations titles and four triple crowns and was coach of the 1977 lions in new zealand. ireland head into tomorrow's crucial game with france, in the women's six nations with the same side that comprehensively beat wales last weekend. the irish side scored seven tries against wales — so will b

ben stokes has broken his finger and will miss the indian premier league.s against india injune. they'll play a four—day game in bristol, followed by three one—dayers and three t20s around the country. they'll then wrap up their home summer with a limited—overs series against new zealand in september. the cricket season is under way. we've already had the first round of matches in the county championship. it's going to be a very busy summer, with the delayed hundred taking its place in the calendar as well. the ecb is aiming to attract a wider, younger and more diverse audience, and that is going to see a few changes to the language used around the game. including replacing the word wickets with outs. patrick gearey reports. for some, those words makes a perfect sense. for others, they might as well be mush. it's the language of cricket's part of its charm, or part of its problem? this summer, the hundred is promising to shake up the sport in england. they are considering upper updating the phrases too. the idea to remove cricket's language barrier. is a cr

england all rounder ben stokes has been ruled out of the rest of the indian premier league with a broken treatment for an ongoing elbow issue. now, there are some new faces and fresh perspectives in the coaching party for the british and irish lions' tour to south africa this summer, and head coach warren gatland says it'll make player selection difficult. scotland head coach gregor townsend will lead the attack, on his first tour as part of the coaching set—up, along with the scots' defence coach steve tandy. leinster�*s robin mcbryde will take charge of the forwards and neiljenkins returns for his fourth tour as kicking coach. gatland's expected to name a 36—man squad next month. and already, there's been a lot of names thrown into the mix by the whole coaching party. we have probably got a number of names that we were all, i suppose, out of the 36, 20 odd, 22, names that we were all, i suppose, out of the 36,20 odd, 22, 23 names we are all across the board... to be one difference, but how difficult it's going to be... and so much competition for some between us, we had 50 odd names.—

a rajasthan royals team containing ben stokes and jos buttler fell just short of chasing down a mammothy before samson took centre stage. 119 from just 63 balls. they needed five from the final ball to win with samson on strike — but fell agonisingly short. and that's all the sport for now. with the easing of the lock down, there's obviously a lot of interest in the weather forecast and i'm pleased to say that the weather is not looking too bad over the next few days. it is going to remain on the chilly side and certainly in for a start to tuesday. clear skies through the early hours across most of the uk. at a bit more cloud and onshore breeze in areas around western areas will be generallyjust about frost free in belfast and drowned western whales. deeper in length, widespread frost on the way earlier in the morning. this is what it looks like first thing on tuesday, lots of sunshine, clouds will build into the afternoon and there will be some scattered showers in western and southern areas. most of the weather will be trifles the temperature is still a bit disappointing for this time

england all—rounder ben stokes is going to be out for up to 12 weeks after an x—ray and scan showed hery on a fractured finger. it means stokes will miss the test series against new zealand — and is also a doubt for england's white ball games against sri lanka and pakistan later injune. stokes was injured whilst playing in the indian premier league earlier this week and will fly home tomorrow with his surgery set for monday. england under—21 manager aidy boothroyd is stepping down after four years in the role, just two weeks after the side finished bottom of their group at the european championship. england were one of the favourites for the tournament with a host of big name players to pick from, but went out following defeats to portugal and switzerland. pressure has been on him with one of the most talented groups the nation has produced in a very long time. pressure has been on him with one of the most talented groups the nation has produced in a very long time. he had access to players like mason mount, phil foden, jude bellingham and trent alexander—arnold. but boothroyd has said

and ben stokes has been named leading cricketer in the world for the second year in a row by wisden.ng him out of the ipl. but there was also a surprise inclusion in the bible of cricket. kent's darren stevens has become the oldest person since 1933 to be named as one of wisden's five cricketers of the year, and the fourth oldest recipient of all time at 44 years old. that is it from me for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thanks, john. good afternoon. you are watching bbc news. i'm jane thanks, john. good afternoon. you are watching bbc news. i'mjane hill to take you through the next few hours of our coverage. we are talking a lot about the pandemic and impact on nhs waiting times. we will have more on that end other stories besides. let's start with the situation in brazil. more than a year into the pandemic, deaths in brazil are now at their peak. but what is most shocking in brazil is the number of babies dying from covid—19. since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,300 babies under the age of1 have died from covid—19. with exclusive access to one children's icu in the

and coming up in sport on the bbc news channel, england all—rounder ben stokes will be out of actione first test of the summer against new zealand. hospitals in india are reporting severe shortages of beds and oxygen, as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise across the country. more than 200,000 cases were reported in the latest 24—hour period — a new record — and there are fears a dangerous new variant could be circulating. the government has been criticised for allowing large crowds to gather for the important hindu festival, the kumbh mela, as sima kotecha reports. this is india over the last 2a hours. another wave of coronavirus seeping through its veins. from delhi, to mumbai to kolkata, its spread is vast and, for seven days now, a record daily increase in cases. in the western state of gujarat, it is particularly bad. hospitals struggling to cope and essential equipment said to be in short supply. rakesh and his mum both have covid. every state, every district, every city, you can find each and every household, at least one or two positive cases of coronavirus. and

a rajasthan royals team containing ben stokes and jos buttler fell just short of chasing down a mammoth ball to win with samson on strike — but fell agonisingly short. and that's all the sport for now. with the easing of the lock down, there's obviously a lot of interest in the weather forecast and i'm pleased to say that the weather is not looking too bad over the next few days. it is going to remain on the chilly side and certainly in for a frosty start to tuesday. you can see clear skies through the early hours across most of the uk. at a bit more cloud and onshore breeze and some showers around western areas will keep things generally or just about frost free for example, in belfast and around western wales. deeper inland, widespread frost on the way earlier in the morning. this is what it looks like first thing on tuesday, lots of sunshine, clouds will build into the afternoon and there will be some scattered showers in western and southern areas. but most of the time the weather will be dry. still the temperature is still a bit disappointing for this time of april. below the avera

england all rounder ben stokes has been ruled out of the rest of the indian premier league with a brokend coach warren gatland says it'll make player selection pretty difficult. scotland head coach gregor townsend will lead the attack, on his first tour as part of the coaching set—up, along with the scots' defence coach steve tandy. leinster�*s robin mcbryde will take charge of the forwards and neiljenkins returns for his fourth tour as kicking coach. gatland's expected to name a 36—man squad next month. and already, there's been a lot of names thrown into the mix by the whole coaching party. we've probably got a number of names that we were all... i suppose, out of the 36, it might�*ve been 20—odd, 22, 23 names where we're all across the board... maybe one difference, but how difficult it's going to be... ican't imagine! and so much competition. between us, we had 50—odd names. right, 50 doesn't go into 36. no, it doesn't, no, yeah. and mark cavendish said he'd never get tired of winning, and he's done it again. following his first victory in three years, on stage two of the tour of tur

england all—rounder ben stokes is going to be out for up to 12 weeks after an x—ray and scan showed hehilst playing in the indian premier league earlier this week and will fly home tomorrow with his surgery set for monday. england under 21 manager aidy boothroyd is stepping down after four years in the role, just two weeks after the side finished bottom of their group at the european championship. england were one of the favourites for the tournament with a host of big name players to pick from, but went out following defeats to portugal and switzerland. there's a setback for scotland ahead of this summer's euro 2020 after rangers midfielder ryanjack was ruled out due to a calf injury. he played a big part in the play off win over serbia, but rangers manager steven gerrard has confirmed jack needs an operation which will see him miss scotland's first major men's tournament in 23 years which includes a group game against england at wembley. and some formula one action to bring you before we go — valterri bottas was fastest in second practice at the emilia romagna grand prix. the mercede

england all—rounder ben stokes is set to be out for up to 12 weeks after an x—ray and scan showed heormula one, valterri bottas was fastest in second practice. at the emilia romagna grand prix, the mercedes driver was just point zero one seconds faster than this team—mate lewis hamilton, with pierre gasly in third. charles leclerc meanwhile had set the fastest lap, only to lose it for exceeding track limits. things got worse when he ended up crashing in the closing seconds and disappointment for red bull's max verstappen too, who suffered a mechanical failure early in the session. and there are three matches in rugby league's super league tonight. big wins for both castleford and champions st helens. and hull kingston rovers narrowly beat huddersfield by 25 points to 2a but the match will be remembered for a little bit of history. take a look at this. this is the very start of the game, a misunderstanding amongst the huddersfield players — and ben crooks goes into score the quickest try in super league history. just 7 seconds. and that's all the sport for now. we will see you later.

next to cricket — england all—rounder ben stokes is going to be out for up to 12 weeks after an x—ray aidy boothroyd is stepping down after four years in the role, just two weeks after the side finished bottom of their group at the european championship. england were one of the favourites for the tournament with a host of big name players to pick from, but went out following defeats to portugal and switzerland. our reporter alex howell has been telling us about who might be in the frame to take over. pressure has been on him with one of the most talented groups the nation has produced in a very long time. he had access to players like mason mount, phil foden, jude bellingham and trent alexander—arnold. but boothroyd has said his job is to not win trophies, but to give players to the first team — that led him to describe the under—21 job as an impossiblejob. next, it's fair to say there's still no love lost between paul pogba and his former manchester united bossjose mourinho. the pair fell out during their time at old trafford and now pogba's criticised mourinho's man management style

and ben stokes and joss buttler are both in action in the indian premier league, as the rajasthan royalstokes, caught for a duck in the first over. 0nly just, though! a bit of a mix—up in the field. you can listen to ball—by—ball commentary right now on the bbc sport website. they just managed to theyjust managed to cling on. we�*ll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. looking forward to that. the uk government is to go to court to challenge two laws passed by the scottish parliament last month. msps unanimously approved bills to incorporate the un convention on the rights of the child and the european charter of local self—government into scottish law. ministers in westminster are concerned the legislation could place new obligations on them which could go beyond the scope of devolved powers. both bills have been referred to the supreme court for a decision. just north of minneapolis, a police officer has shot dead a black man after pulling him over for a minor traffic violation, and in the hours since, riot police have clashed with hundreds of protesters. police fired tear

ben stokes dismissed. i suppose. but she was a — time i missed her, i suppose. but she was a very dear friend and colleague _ she was a very dear friend and colleague. and a real inspiration, particularly for women in politics and a _ particularly for women in politics and a true — particularly for women in politics and a true humanitarian. | particularly for women in politics and a true humanitarian.- and a true humanitarian. i love that. i and a true humanitarian. i love that- i read _ and a true humanitarian. i love that. i read one _ and a true humanitarian. i love that. i read one of— and a true humanitarian. i love that. i read one of the - and a true humanitarian. i love i that. i read one of the obituaries today and it talks about shirley time. that it chimes with that. a huge intellect, some very important jobs in politics. what was your biggest legacy? ! jobs in politics. what was your biggest legacy?— jobs in politics. what was your biggest legacy? jobs in politics. what was your binestleaa ? ..

england all—rounder ben stokes has a broken finger and he'll miss the rest of the indian premier leaguejune. it's 100 days to go until the start of the olympic games in tokyo — and the build up has been unusual, to say the least. a year's delay, and doubts over whether it would go ahead at all. for the athletes, it's been incredibly unsettling — and double 0lympic taekwondo championjadejones knows she'll have a very different experience in tokyo. my my family have travelled to every 0lympics, even the youth 0lympics when i first started and every time i come up to five, i see their faces, the stream of them during your lender does make a difference to me, it kind of showsjust how big this pandemic is, but i'm just seeing it as how amazing it would be to come running through the door and bring that gold medal home to all my family, and i know they will be cheering me on and willing me on, and just being a big buzz to the country, and to my family as well, to come back with that gold medal. that's all the sport for now. every year, over 600 young and seemingly healthy people die suddenly

a rajasthan royals team containing ben stokes and jos buttler fell just short of chasing down a mammothrs, with kl rahul hitting 91 from just 50 balls. the royals started slowly before samson took centre stage. 119 from just 63 balls. they needed five from the final ball to win with samson on strike — but fell agonisingly short. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more for you on the bbc news channel later on. a police officer who shot dead a 20—year—old black man north of minneapolis confused her handgun with her taser. in the hours after the shooting, there were clashes between police and protesters. the incident occurred in the district of brooklyn center and the victim has been named as twenty year old dauntay wright. president biden has called for calm after the clashes. wasn't an accident, was it intentional?— wasn't an accident, was it intentional? . ., , ., , intentional? that remains to be determined _ intentional? that remains to be determined by _ intentional? that remains to be determined by a _ intentional? that remains to be determined by a full-blown - determined by

ben stokes has been named wisden's leading cricketer in the world for the second year in a row.d the fourth oldest recipient of all time. he's 44—years—old. just a baby! with fewer than 100 days to go until the tokyo 0lympics, adam peaty has given us a taste of what he's capable of. competing at the british olympic selection trials, he won the 100 metre breastroke with ease. his time of 57.39 seconds was more than a second quicker than anybody else — and he's now recorded the 20 fastest times in the history of the event. there is more details on all of those stories on the bbc sport website. that's it for now. there's been a fourth night of protests in minneapolis following the fatal shooting of a young black man, daunte wright, by a police officer, kim potter, who has resigned from the police and faces manslaughter charges. she said she meant to draw her taser, rather than her gun. protesters have been demanding justice for daunte wright. but the manslaughter charge against the policewoman who killed him wasn't good enough for them. they wanted it to be murder. and so, another

and ben stokes has been named leading cricketer in the world for the second year in a row by wisden.he results. across bbc news today, we're looking ahead to those elections and taking a look at the role local and devolved government plays in society. let's take a look at what's happening where. it's the biggest election day until the next general election, and due to the cancellation of last year's local elections on may the 6th, thousands of seats across the uk are up for grabs. in england, they'll be voting in 143 local council authorities, with about 5,000 seats in contention. councillors are in change of many services, from bin collections to social care, sport facilities and libraries there there are also 13 mayoral elections, including greater manchester, the west midlands, london and for the first time in west yorkshire. voters in london will also elect 25 members of the london assembly, who examine the mayor's decisions. voters in england and wales will also be asked to elect police and crime commissioners. they set the budget and priorities for police in their area. there a

ben stokes and jos buttler both in action, as the rajasthan royals take on the punjab kings.lly does speak for itself. it is busy. people are back. it has not been like this for very long time. latest figures, actually, suggesting that footfall in uk high streets is just 15% of was before the pandemic. a couple of caveats to thatjust to explain of course. it is the easter holidays, the weather here is great, there is the novelty of the thursday day of reopening. the big challenge, of course, will be how many of these people keep coming back day back day after day now there's restrictions have been lifted, and we should also be quite clear, as well, the pandemic has taken many businesses of the high street, including topshop and top man, debenhams and many others that have struggled to survive this pandemic, so what have businesses been doing? how have they been able to adapt? what have they done to adapt? welcome to businesses that are here with me in cheltenham may be able to shed a little light on it. but in cheltenham may be able to shed a little light on it. freddie and r

key man ben stokes will be out of action for three months as he needs an operation on a broken finger name players to pick from, but crashed out following defeats to portugal and switzerland. pressure has been on him with one of the most talented groups the nation has produced in a very long time. he had access to mayors like mason mount and trent alexander—arnold. but boothroyd has said his job mount and trent alexander—arnold. but boothroyd has said hisjob is mount and trent alexander—arnold. but boothroyd has said his job is to not win trophies, but to give players to the first team that. led him to describe the under—21 job as an impossiblejob. next, it's fair to say there is no love lost between paul pogba and his former manchester united bossjose mourinho, with the pair having fallen out during their time at old trafford. and now pogba has criticised mourinho's man management style — accusing him of "going against players" and making them feel like "they don't exist anymore". the comments come just a week after united beat mourinho's tottenham side to increase the pressure on th

and ben stokes has been named leading cricketer in the world for the second year in a row, by wisden.ces — from bin collections to social care, sport facilities and libraries. there are also 13 mayoral elections — including greater manchester — the west midlands, london and for the first time in west yorkshire. voters in london will also elect 25 members of the london assembly — who examine the mayors decisions. voters in england & wales will also be asked to elect police and crime commissioners. they set the budget and priorities for police in their area. there are also national elections in scotland and wales. 129 seats are up for grabs in the scottish parliament. that�*s made up of 73 constituencies — and a further 56 seats made up from regional lists. and in wales — 60 seats are in play — 40 constituencies — and a further 20 seats again made up from the regional list system. the election is on may 6th — but due to the coronavirus restrictions — it will be a few days until we find out the results. let�*s talk about the elections for police and crime commissioners with danny shaw —

yesterday we showed you ben stokes getting out for a dog in his first appearance of the season in theed to know that the next international fixture is against new zealand on the 2nd ofjune. he has got to be well by then. thank you.— got to be well by then. thank ou. ., ., , , , thank you. you have some big guests later, thank you. you have some big guests later. haven't — thank you. you have some big guests later, haven't you? _ later, haven't you? we have. it is 100 days since the start of the limbic. ii it we have. it is 100 days since the start of the limbic.— start of the limbic. if it still toes start of the limbic. if it still goes ahead! _ start of the limbic. if it still goes ahead! -- _ start of the limbic. if it still goes ahead! -- what i start of the limbic. if it still goes ahead! -- what the i start of the limbic. if it still. goes ahead! -- what the start start of the limbic. if it still- goes ahead! -- what the start of the goes ahead! —— what the start of the olympics. goes ahead! -- what the start of the gi mics. goes ahead! -- what the start of the olm-ics. goes ahe