history is made on the opening day at cheltenham.ackmore becomes the first female jockey, to win the champion hurdle. jos buttler delivers a brutal batting display against india as england go ahead in the t20 series. and — the return of zlatan! swedish hero ibrahimovic is back in the national side, at the age of 39. hello and welcome to sportsday. we start the programme at the cheltenham festival. one of the blue riband events of the jump racing season, but with a difference this year. no famous cheltenham roar with the festival taking place behind closed doors. and what a day of racing the crowds would have enjoyed, as our senior sports news correspondent laura scott can tell us. laura. the sun was shining all afternoon _ laura. the sun was shining all afternoon at _ laura. the sun was shining all afternoon at cheltenham - laura. the sun was shining all afternoon at cheltenham andl laura. the sun was shining all. afternoon at cheltenham and you laura. the sun was shining all- afternoon at cheltenham and you get the sense that with t

for success at this cheltenham i for success at this cheltenham festival! end, he won by 18. he may not race — festival! in the end, he won by 18. he may not race this _ festival! in the end, he won by 18. he may not race this year, - festival! in the end, he won by 18. he may not race this year, but i festival! in the end, he won by 18. j he may not race this year, but still this horse inspires. keith donohue said tiger roll was all that kept them in the sport. that race would have her cheltenham roar, as it is every win between horse and jockey. in the champion chase, coleman said he rode the toughest mare in the sport. the horse's call put the kettle on. sport. the horse's call put the kettle om— sport. the horse's call put the kettle on._ this| sport. the horse's call put the i kettle on._ this was kettle on. will follow up! this was a race win — kettle on. will follow up! this was a race win for _ kettle on. will follow up! this was a race win for henry. _ kettle on. will follow up! this was a race win for henry. he's - kettle on. will follow up! this

for blackmore the end of a remarkable cheltenham, - stuff.rkable cheltenham, but - stuff. for blackmore the end of a remarkable cheltenham, but if i stuff. for blackmore the end of a remarkable cheltenham, but if it| stuff. for blackmore the end of a - remarkable cheltenham, but if it was her week it was his day. andy swiss, bbc news. let's move on to rugby union because wales could win the 6 nations championship and the grand slam this weekend — if they beat france in paris on sunday. before that scotland host italy and england are in ireland — tomorrow. austin's here with a look ahead to the weekend's action and austin, it's not quite as simple as it sounds is it because france have a game in hand after their scotland fixture last month was postponed due to covid — so what exactly do wales need to do to win the title? complicated is the right word. as you mentioned that france game against scotland coming next week that has been rearranged, that's why everything is little more complicated this season. normally we go into the final weekend a

he's now won two grand nationals and five times at cheltenham. start lines being a challenge. tiger roll was trained by gordon elliott, who's now suspended from the sport. the horse's age and form meant few thought he'd win win — but in the twilight of his career and perhaps his last race in the uk, they couldn't catch him. tiger roll! heading for a fifth success at the cheltenham festival! in the end, tiger roll won by 18 lengths. he may not race this year, but still, this horse inspires. keith donohue said tiger roll was all that kept him in the sport. that race would have heard cheltenham roar — as it is every win between horse and jockey. in the champion chase, coleman said he rode the toughest mare in the sport. the horse's call put the kettle on. it never looked like running out of steam. we'll follow up! this was a race win for henry. he's now won two out of two. put ina put in a week when the sport looks to save its reputation, it's still the horse's names that are most revered. tiger roll could just be cheltenham's most popular champion.

all a bit chilly, cheltenham, _ cheltenham. all a bit chilly, cheltenham, isn't _ cheltenham.. once was at cheltenham, the other time was on countdown.— once was at cheltenham, the other time was on countdown. there you go. why countdown? _ time was on countdown. there you go. why countdown? i _ time was on countdown. there you go. why countdown? i don't _ time was on countdown. there you go. why countdown? i don't know, - time was on countdown. there you go. why countdown? i don't know, i- time was on countdown. there you go. why countdown? i don't know, ijust . why countdown? i don't know, ijust felt like it was a tweed day. it just felt right. i feel they need, the need for tweed and all that business. i don't know what i am doing. matt, help! nothing to see here. good morning. cheltenham could be one of the warmer spots today. it could hit 16 degrees, 61 fahrenheit. ourweather watchers summit up. this is a scene in eastbourne. similar skies across much of england and wales. look what has happened across scotland. the cloud is broken up. this is the north of glasgow. just a

to be ridin: the cheltenham for blackmore. to be riding the one _ cheltenham for blackmore.e. to be riding the one of was so - cheltenham for blackmore. to be riding the one of was so far- riding the one of was so far removed from anything ever possible so maybe there is a lesson in that for everyone out there but it is incredible. that is your sports news for now. that is your sports news for now. are we one step closer to walking, talking robots indistinguishable from their human creators? designers in russia are using polymers and 3d printing to make human attributes on our next breed of androids mark lobel takes a look. with an eye to the future, 3d modeller, sculptor and designer petr chegodaev uses art to humanise robots. translation: i plan to make a 3d modelling centre, - where we developed artificial skin, eyes and teeth for our. hyperrealistic robots, in this rapidly developing market. i this lab, in the far eastern russian city of vladivostok, is developing a prototype of a male humanoid robot called alexia. mass production is scheduled to start by the end of the

after finishing runner—up five times at cheltenham, mullins finally rode at cheltenham, mullins finallyleft onto mall�*s final day. blackmore is to wins clear of her main rival. can you get make more history by winning the gold cup. —— tomorrow's final day. what a festival so far for rachael blackmore — and here is the woman of the moment. explaining just how hot she has been dealing with other attention. i think my parents are getting a bit of it to come i'm directing get some of it to come i'm directing get some of their way. they are getting a great kick out of it as well. it is brilliant. i'm wholeheartedly grateful to everybody who has got the festival going this year. and jennifer pugh, jennifer is doing a fantasticjob. getting all of us irish over here and tested and tested before we go home and to give us all safe and masked up and out there, they are doing and unbelievablejob and a there, they are doing and unbelievable job and a massive thanks to them that we are here and going. well done to her. there's a busy night of action in the europa league — four teams from great brita

how important are the next four days at cheltenham for the future of horse—racing?akes pele to set a new world record, but is he really top of the goal—scoring charts? good evening, we're going start with the that huge boxing story that broke this afternoon. promoter eddie hearn says that all parties have put pen to paper for a two—fight deal between the world heavyweight champions anthonyjoshua and tyson fury. he says a venue for the all—british bout will be confirmed in the next month. let's bring in the boxing writer and broadcaster steve bunce. evening, steve. a couple of days ago, fury said this fight was nowhere near getting made. things have accelerated quickly. two days ago tyson fury showed up at the fight show in bolton and said i am drinking 12 pints of lager a day, every sunday i drink a bottle of scotch, i've not been in the gym for six weeks and despite my never happen. the moment he opened his mouth, we should have known an announcement was imminent. that's what we got today, we didn't get a fight date today, but we got confirmation, enthusiastic conf

more than 250,000 people filled cheltenham and its racecourse this time last year.ose everybody spread it all through the town, really. it's a family tradition, john and chris with their children go to the festival every year. i remember the day we went to cheltenham, and the next thing, three or four weeks later, i woke up in intensive care with tubes and machines beeping and nurses around, and you know, thinking, "what's going on?" and for the next eight weeks, john was in hospital fighting for his life. we had a zoom call with one of the doctors so that me and the kids were able to see him because that might be the last time we did see him. so that was an awful day. awful day. and even thouthohn survived, there were many complications. i had gangrene on my thumb and finger and on my toe and that, a bleed on the brain. john and chris believe the whole family caught covid from cheltenham but no one can be entirely sure. the festival was among the last mass gathering to take place in the uk before the nation was overwhelmed by the first wave of the pandemic. a year

the cheltenham festival is one of the main shop windows for horse racing.ed after him sitting astride a dead horse. with racing authorities warning of an existential crisis, many here hope the festival can promote a more positive side to the sport. we know that racing will pull through this in the four days ahead, to actually look at the wonderful equine welfare that is here, and throughout the racing industry. there are a few vantage points where people will be able to catch a glimpse of the action. local police will be patrolling, however, to ensure no one congregates to watch from afar. the atmosphere will be more electronic than electric, with the iconic cheltenham roar being recreated for those tuning in from home. the buzz of it is not going to be the same, but the racing will be every bit as good, you know? there�*s some fantastic horses running here this week, ther�*s some really competitive racing, and the racing will still be the same. partnering the favourite, honeysuckle, rachael blackmore is bidding to become the first woman to win the champion

so with the controversial cheltenham and aintree meetings just around the corner, where horse welfaret — how damaging has this been to the sport's reputation? earlier, i spoke to the british horse racing authority's director of equine health and welfare james given, and i started by asking him for his reaction to the images at the center of the storm. i'm deeply saddened, and actually more than that, angry. angry for all the people who work in sport whose values are just not represented by those images. i've worked on it for nearly three decades now and i have never seen any behaviour that resembles this. it'sjust never seen any behaviour that resembles this. it's just in norma's frustration that what this represents two people who aren't interested in horse racing who get presented with these images is that it's just unrecognisable to everybody who works in the sport and cares for horses very deeply. h0??? cares for horses very deeply. how concerned — cares for horses very deeply. how concerned are _ cares for horses very deeply. how concerned are you _ cares for horses very deeply.

i you should be somewhere close to cheltenham-— you should be somewhere close to cheltenham.- cheltenham. i like being called the alliance, is very exciting for me. i alliance, is very exciting for me. absolutely right. last night we had this bright fireball. that travelled across the uk, it was picked up on a lot of cameras, we've got hundreds of eyewitness accounts. we think potentially there are some meteorites that actually made it down onto the ground just north of cheltenham. we are looking for rocks that are probably on the order of the size, quite small. we might imagine it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. before we go out hunting ourselves we want to make sure we really can refine that search area. make sure we really can refine that search area-— make sure we really can refine that search area. ., ,., , ., search area. there are some dues and donts search area. there are some dues and don'ts that find _ search area. there are some dues and don'ts that find these _ search area. there are some dues and don'ts that find these shiny _ search area. there are so

the wins keep coming at cheltenham for rachael blackmore.board alla—ho in the ryanair chase. and the 31 year old irish rider won won again in the mares' novices hurdle. nick parrott reports. overwhelming and unbelievable was how rachel blackmore described her continuing success. she had already made history by becoming the first woman to win the champion hurdle. but st patrick's day wasn't enjoyable for the irish woman, as she fell three times. today blackmore came back in style, she dominated the ryan air chase, taking the lead after the third jump. pulling away from her rivals with two to go, and coming home 12 lengths ahead of the rest of the field. while she made that look easy, her second victory was anything but. on board, the second favourite, tell me something in the novices hurdle she had to fight her way out from last. she only took the lead just before the final hurdle, and then pulled away to make it a five wind over the week. that is more wins for her then all the british trainers in the festival combined. despite that, he assur

he's now won two grand nationals and five times at cheltenham.ltenham festival! in the end, tiger roll won by 18 lengths. he may not race this year, but still, this horse inspires. keith donoghue said tiger roll was all that kept him in the sport. that race would have heard cheltenham roar — as it is every win between horse and jockey. in the champion chase, coleman said he rode the toughest mare in the sport. the horse's call put the kettle on. it never looked like running out of steam. put the kettle on! we'll follow up! this was a race win for trainer henry de bromhead. he's now won two out of two. but, in a week when the sport looks to save its reputation, it's still the horses�* names that are most revered. tiger roll could just be cheltenham's most popular champion. joe lynskey, bbc news. england can wrap up the t20 series with victory against india tomorrow. they lead the five match contest 2—1 with the game in ahmedebad, once again being played without a crowd. speaking to the bbc�*s kal sajad, bowler mark wood says it was something that

and coming up in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news — we will head to cheltenham. jump racing's world famous four—day festival save a sport in crisis? good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. germany, italy and france are among several european countries that have suspended the use of the oxford astrazeneca covid vaccine. it follows cases of blood clotting reported in some people after having the jab. so, is the astrazeneca vaccine safe? experts here say it is and the number of blood clots reported after the vaccine are no more than those typically reported within the general population. and the world health organization says there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and reported blood clots. our medical editor fergus walsh has more. a public display of confidence in the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine from northern ireland to's chief medical officer today. northern ireland to's chief medical officertoday. by northern ireland to's chief medical officer today. by contrast, you cannot have the jab in the irish republic, in france, germany and a growing li

it's gold cup day at the cheltenham festival.st woman to win cheltenham's biggest prize? joe lynskey reports. just one win at cheltenham's enough for somejockeys, rachael blackmore's got five just this week. that's more than all the british trained horses combined. now she goes for the greatest race. at the gold cup, she rides a plus tard. the gold cup is the race every jockey wants to win. i've an unbelievable chance in a plus tard. we'll all be heading out there trying to to beat al boum photo and we'll be giving it our best shot. commentator: al boum photo has done it again. _ al boum photo's one of 11 she looks to beat. it's won the last two gold cups in a row. but if that horse has the history, blackmore has the form. she could be the first woman to win this race. male orfemale, she's the top jockey this week. she has been quite extraordinary. the level of ability- she's shown this week. her skill set has been absolutely amazing and it heads her into. the gold cup full of confidence. just how ground—breaking would it be for

dan roan, bbc news, cheltenham. carey mulligan, olivia colman and sir anthony hopkins among those named. our arts editor will gompertz takes us through the nominations for a ceremony that will be unlike any other — taking place in a railway station. welcome to the 2021 oscar nominations, not coming from sunny hollywood, sadly, but from a rather damp leicester square where the cinemas have been shut all year but, by hook or by crook, the films have been released so we have got a shortlist to discuss with larushka from the metro newspaper. let's start with the acting nominations and best actress. who should win? who will win? i think who should win is vanessa kirby, the british actress, for pieces of a woman. i still haven't got over the 20—minute birth scene that she does at the beginning of that film. but i think who will win is andra day, who puts in a terrific transformational performance as billie holiday. # blood on the leaves and blood at the root. #. best actor, who is in the running and who is going to win? i

with cheltenham and aintree looming, elliot's owners have already started deserting him.nd the scenes, at a time when it's about to take centre stage. laura scott, bbc news, lambourn. the reggae music legend bunny wailer has died in the jamaican capital kingston, at the age of 73. he was last surviving member of the group the wailers, which also included bob marley and peter tosh. the cause of his death is unknown, but he had been in hospital since having a stroke lastjuly. the former liverpool and scotland striker and television presenter ian stjohn has died at the age of 82. he was an iconic figure at liverpool and went on to be part of the hugely successful saint and greavsie, the itv football show, in the 1980s. 0ur correspondent andy swiss looks back at his life and career. amid liverpool's stars of the 1960s, few shone as brightly as ian stjohn. when hejoined, the club was languishing in the second division.

history is made at the cheltenham festival, as rachel blackmore becomes the first female jockey to winmpion hurdle. reaction from the opening day coming up. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the duke of edinburgh has left hospital in central london after receiving treatment for an infection and surgery for a pre—existing heart condition. prince philip, who's 99, spent a month in hospital and has now returned to windsor to be reunited with the queen. the prince of wales said he was thrilled with the news. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. shielded by a screen, a patient, evidently in a wheelchair, was brought out from the king edward vii hospital to a waiting vehicle. moments later, the vehicle left with the duke of edinburgh safely aboard. as the car drove away, photographers caught sight of him sitting in the rear of the vehicle. little has been said by the palace about the reasons for his hospital stay other than he had been suffering from an infection and an unspecified pre—existing heart condition. but the treatment, evidently having been successful,

to cheltenham where history was made on day one in the feature race of the day, the champion hurdle, the course this year, as blackmore came home on the 11—10 favourite honeysuckle, well ahead of the field to give trainer henry de bromhead victory. sharjah was second at 11 to one, epatante came third. but blackmore the story of the day, what is national hunt racing's most prestigious meeting of the year. i am speechless, to be honest. she isjust so incredible. ijust cannot believe we won a champion hurdle. this was never even a dream, it was so far from what i ever thought could happen in my life to be in cheltenham writing the winner of eight champion hurdle, it is so far removed from anything i thought could be possible. so maybe there is a lesson in that for everyone out there but it is incredible. manchester united women are set to play their first ever match at old trafford. next week's wsl clash with west ham united will be played at the theatre of dreams, in a historic step for the club. casey stoney�*s side will take advantage of a gap in the schedule at old trafford with the

you told me this is the worst ever result for the british trainers at cheltenham.eview of the structure of british embracing, what would you say to that? i british embracing, what would you say to that?— say to that? i think that's right, those comments _ say to that? i think that's right, those comments were - say to that? i think that's right, those comments were echoed l say to that? i think that's right, l those comments were echoed as say to that? i think that's right, - those comments were echoed as well by dan at a couple of second places here this week and another of our leading trainers, just close 23—5 was the final score and they will have to have a look at everything from grassroots investment to the way horses are purchased and may be a big drive to attract new owners into the sport as well. british racing at the moment has been dazed and bemused as the irish trainers very much still the prizes.- very much still the prizes. thank ou so very much still the prizes. thank you so much. — very much still the prizes. thank you so much, the _ very much still

there is a massive knock—on effect to the local economy and cheltenham is an integral part of that sol of the game, against his former side, but there was a worrying incident at the end, when the wolves goalkeeper rui patricio was stretchered off with a nasty looking head injury after colliding with one of his own players. he's ok, he's awake, he is conscious. he speaks, he remembers what happened. we have to take the right precautions, but he's ok. it was a collision with the knee of conor coady, a big knock to his head, but he's ok. for now, everything is fine. chelsea's women will play both legs of their champions league quarter—final against wolfsburg in budapest, because of covid travel restrictions. the hungarian capital has become a popular venue for european games, with teams from some countries not allowed to go to others. chelsea's games are on the 24th and 31st of march. there'll be no crowd for the rest of england's t20 series in india. over 60,000 fans were allowed in for the first two but there's been a covid—19 outbreak in the area. it's1—1 going into today's game. jaso

so, in the uk, mass gatherings like the cheltenham races were allowed to continue well into march, andtic, without a way from stopping people from dying is darwinian natural selection. it's kind of like who makes it on the other side of this infection and whoever is left has some kind of immunity and whoever didn't died. and then computer models calculated what that policy could mean. "we predict", said imperial college, "in the order of 250,000 deaths." by this time, hospitals in northern italy were overwhelmed, but could the models here be trusted? i think, unfortunately, with now having seen over 125,000 deaths in the uk, the very large predictions of the potential numbers of deaths don't look so outlandish as they did then, so i think we did well in that respect. and what about borders? the scientific advice was that "port of entry screening has low efficiency." the view was it wouldn't pick up most cases. but many countries closed their frontiers entirely. the who said that was counter productive, and sage agreed. the government's advisers were warning it would be very difficult t

there was a big shock in the first race on the penultimate day of the cheltenham festival — the novices fell early on, leaving nico de boinville to ride the 8—1 shot chantry house to victory. that's an historic success for nick henderson — he's the first uk trainer to reach 70 winners at cheltenham. wimbledon is likely to go ahead this summer with reduced crowds, organisers have announced today. it's due to start on the 28th ofjune — a week after covid restrictions are set to end in england. there won't be any scenes like this, because there'll be no ticket resales within the grounds. and the traditional ballot won't take place — instead, all tickets will be sold on—line, although there's no word on how many will be available. there were over 500,000 fans at the all england club in 2019, the last time the championships were held. that's all the sport for now but there's website more on the bbc sport website. you can follow england versus india. there is also news from dr richard freeman's tribunal — that panel has determined that his fitness to practise is impaired by reason of his misc

the wins keep coming at cheltenham for rachael blackmore.s. she had already made history by becoming the first woman to win the champion hurdle. but st patrick's day wasn't enjoyable for the irish woman, as she fell three times. today blackmore came back in style, she dominated the ryanair chase, taking the lead after the third jump. pulling away from her rivals with two to go, and coming home 12 lengths ahead of the rest of the field. while she made that look easy, her second victory was anything but. on board, the second favourite, tell me something in the novices hurdle she had to fight her way out from last. she only took the lead just before the final hurdle, and then pulled away to make it a five wind over the week. ——and then pulled away to make it a five wins over the week. that is more wins for her then all the british trainers in the festival combined. despite that, he assured to be smiling behind his mask. despite that, he was sure to be smiling behind his mask. check your house when the base opening race, giving him a 70 cheltenh

a big day forjockey rachael blackmore — she's leading the way at the cheltenham festival, and could bewoman to win the gold cup. our top story, this morning. the prime minister is due to receive the oxford astrazeneca vaccine today and has assured the public it is safe. it's after several leading european countries have confirmed they are to resume the rollout of the jab — following a pause over safety concerns. borisjohnson�*s urged people to get vaccinated and says england's roadmap out of lockdown is on track, despite a drop in vaccine supply. the roll—out of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine will resume in some eu countries today, after regulators found no evidence it causes blood clots. the european medicines agency reviewed the jab and found that it was "not associated" with a higher risk of clots. france, germany and italy, along with cyprus, latvia and lithuania, are to restart use of the jab today while spain, portugal and the netherlands will do so next week. but norway, sweden and denmark have said they won't use the astrazeneca vaccine while they conduct their own independent

the 9—1 shot minella indo has won the cheltenham gold cup.and 2020 winner al boum photo. earlier blackmore picked up her sixth win of the week on board kill—ix—ious in the triumph hurdle. sunday, for most of us, is census day — the once—in—a—decade compulsory survey that aims to provide an up—to—date picture of much of the population. and this time there's a new voluntary question on sexuality for over—16s. there's also one asking whether your gender identity matches your sex registered at birth. jessica parker reports. census, 1951. this snapshot usually takes place every ten years. archive: thus, it will be possible to answer mechanically _ such varied questions as, how many married women are doing part—time work? running for over two centuries, things have moved on. thank you, babe. welcoming the new questions, keland lisa. we are counted now, in a way that we haven't been previously. yes, it does feel that statistics have been guestimated, to some extent, but now we're going to have, hopefully, accurate representation. do you think it's a

dan roan, bbc news, cheltenham.ion to extend the grace period for checks on supermarket goods that are crossing the irish sea. under the withdrawal agreement, goods heading from great britain to northern ireland will have to be checked for eu compliance. but both sides agreed to temporarily waive those checks until 3 march to give retailers time to prepare — the grace period. unilaterally, the uk has now extended the waiver until october, and the eu is objecting. anand menon is director of the uk in a changing europe. he joins us from oxford. good to see you. from everything i've read and heard over the last couple weeks, it was pretty clear that the two sides were talking about extending the waiver. and then,in about extending the waiver. and then, in came lord frost who got the brexit brief, he now sits in the cabinet office, and he unit test unilaterally pressed the button. do we know what he did that?- we know what he did that? there's elements of— we know what he did that? there's elements of truth _ we know wh

we've just had the first race on the second day of the cheltenham festival, the ballymore novices hurdletwo and half miles, jockey rachael blackmore, who won the champion hurdle yesterday, was on the 6/4 favourite, bob olinger, also trained by henry de bromhead, and she came home well clear for another grade 1 win. the big race of the day is at 3:05pm, the queen mother chase. three weeks after breaking his leg and ankle in a car crash in california, tiger woods is back home where he says "he'll be working on getting stronger every day". the 15 time major champion posted that he was "so grateful "for the outpouring of support and encougement received over "the past few weeks." the 45 year old also thanked all the staff at the medical centres where he was treated. team new zealand have retained sailings most prestigious prize, the americas cup. it's the fourth time that new zealand have won the oldest international trophy in sport. the took the best of 13 series 7—3 against the italian challengers luna rossa racing off the coast of auckland, they were roared on by huge crowds as they won r

it really contrasting scenes to last year when the cheltenham festival was one of the cheltenham festivalosed doors is also in line with government guidelines. we have seen only a few hundred people are allowed, almost as many horses as there are people. the irish contingent has been kept very separate to all the other participants because of covid rules and it is been a beautiful day here, i don't know if you can see but the sun is shining, it would have been a really wonderful day for fans to see and with the performances on the track. it's been a real difficult few weeks for racing given the distressing images that emerged of the top irish trainer gordon elliott and at the top irish jockey sitting on top of dead horses. they said hopefully this would be a positive shop window for the sport and rachel blackmore's achievement today it could well be the tonic that racing needed today. could well be the tonic that racing needed today-— could well be the tonic that racing needed today. they're hoping that the positives _ needed today. they're hoping that the positives will _ needed today. t

the 9/1 shot minella indo has won the cheltenham gold cup.nd the 2019 and 2020 winner al boum photo. earlier, blackmore picked up her sixth win of the week on board ouilixios in the triumph hurdle. it has not been easy making new film and tv drama over the past year. productions were shut down as covid took hold. and then when restrictions loosened, sets had to be redesigned, the cast and crew had to live in bubbles with everyone being tested all the time. but it worked for the bbc hit drama line of duty. it's back on our screens this weekend. our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, has been speaking to its creatorjed mercurio. armed police! each new series of line of duty has gradually become a national event. mother of god. if i see a bent copper, - i'll go after him, irrespective of rank or political expedient. of rank or political expedience. jed mercurio's drama regular drawing in over 12 million viewers. oh, it's brilliant. i mean, we're so thrilled when the audience figures get up to those numbers. it's quite rare, now. but i thi

it completes an historic triumph for de bromhead, as he becomes the first trainer to win cheltenham'sey rachael blackmore was hard on his heels, but could only come second on board ah plu tar — also trained by de bromhead. they battled along the straight and to the line, kennedy climbing up in the saddle to celebrate the biggest win of his career. the favourite al boum photo — who had been aiming for three gold cups in a row came third. de bromhead says the achievement is yet to sink in. it's incredible to think of it. they coming here for a lot of years now and plenty of tough years of tough results is relevant but also some great ones. and to do this, yeah. but as i say everyone that's working with us and all of the crew at home, everyone here and, could not do any of it without our clients in supporting us and they give us the opportunity to buy these good horses and just feel extremely lucky. so second place in the gold cup for rachael blackmore, having earlier added to her list of festival winners. she rode quilixios to victory in the triumph hurdle to make it six wins this week,

it came down, eventually, near cheltenham.nd while that light show was accidentally captured on security footage, an array of special cameras from the uk fireball alliance managed to pinpoint exactly where in the country the debris was likely to have landed. this charred patch of tarmac on a gloucestershire driveway was the final clue, and the winchcombe meteorite has now been found. nothing like this rock has ever been found in the uk before. after travelling for millions of years through space, it is now in the expert care of the natural history museum in london. why is this space rock in particular so special? so, this is 4.6 billion years old, it is older than any rock we have on the earth, so it is like a time capsule, it takes us all the way back to the birth of our solar system. this is a carbonaceous chondrite type meteorite, so it contains all the building blocks for our solar system. so potentially this meteorite contains things like simple organics and amino acids that could tell us about how life got started on our

just one win at cheltenham is enough forsomejockeys.e gold cup as| the race that every jockey wants to win. i have an unbelievable chance. we will all be heading out there trying to win and we will give it our best shot.— trying to win and we will give it our best shot. she is looking to beat 11 horses, _ our best shot. she is looking to beat 11 horses, including - our best shot. she is looking to beat 11 horses, including the i our best shot. she is looking to i beat 11 horses, including the winner heat 11 horses, including the winner of the last two gold cups in a row, but rachel blackmore has the form. she could be the first woman to win this race. male orfemale, she is the topjockey this this race. male orfemale, she is the top jockey this week. she this race. male or female, she is the top jockey this week. the top 'ockey this week. she has been the topjockey this week. she has been quite _ the topjockey this week. she has been quite extraordinary, - the topjockey this week. she has been quite extraordinary, the i the top jockey th

the cheltenham festival starts tomorrow.n 250,000 people filled cheltenham and its racecourse this time last year. just days later, the country went into natural lockdown. —— national. it was very busy, absolutely packed, so i suppose everybody spread it all through the town, really. it's a family tradition. john and chris with their children go to the festival every year. i remember the day we went to cheltenham. next thing, three or four weeks later, i was woken up in intensive care with tubes in, machines beeping, nurses round, thinking, "what's going on?" and for the next eight weeks, john was in hospital, fighting for his life. we had a zoom call with one of the doctors so me and the kids were able to see him because that might be the last time we did see him. that was an awful day, awful day. even thouthohn survived, there were many complications. i had gangrene on my thumb and finger and toe and that. a bleed on the brain. john and chris believe their whole family caught covid from cheltenham but no—one can be entirel

to cheltenham where history was made on day one in the feature race of the day, the champion hurdle,bromhead victory. sharjah was second at 11 to one, epatante came third. but blackmore the story of the day, what is national hunt racing's most prestigious meeting of the year. i am speechless, to be honest. she isjust so incredible. ijust cannot believe we won a champion hurdle. this was never even a dream, it was so far from what i ever thought could happen in my life to be in cheltenham riding the winner of eight champion hurdle, it is so far removed from anything i thought could be possible. so maybe there is a lesson in that for everyone out there but it is incredible. manchester united women are set to play their first ever match at old trafford. next week's wsl clash with west ham united will be played at the theatre of dreams, in a historic step for the club. casey stoney�*s side will take advantage of a gap in the schedule at old trafford with the match moved from leigh sports village. stoney called it a fantastic opportunity to showcase the women's game and a special moment i

the cheltenham festival starts tomorrow.day, awful day. even thouthohn survived, there were many complications. i had gangrene on my thumb and finger and toe and that. a bleed on the brain. john and chris believe their whole family caught covid from cheltenham but no—one can be entirely sure. the festival was among the last mass gatherings to take place in the uk before the nation was overwhelmed by the first wave of the pandemic. finn mcredmond was there working as a correspondent for the irish times. now it looks like sheer lunacy it was allowed to go ahead, especially against the backdrop of what was going on in europe at the time. italy was entering into lockdown, the world health organization was declaring a pandemic. ireland was closing its schools. meanwhile, there were all these revellers at cheltenham. a year on, things couldn�*t look more different. but 12 months ago, this was one of the most popular pubs for racegoers. what race week does in cheltenham is it gives us a second christmas. it was a really positive ti

hello, it's been an historic week at the cheltenham festival — minella indo won the gold cup today, completing— who also won the champion hurdle and the queen mother champion chase, a feat never before achieved at the same festival. it was actually a one—two in the gold cup for de bromhead after rachel blackmore finished second on a plus tard, having chosen not to ride minella indo. although, she's made her own history this week by becoming the first femalejockey to be leading rider with six winners. the favourite al boum photo — who was going for a third consecutive gold cup win was third. but the victory went to minella indo ridden byjack kennedy — his biggest win and a first gold cup for de bromhead, who says it hasn't sunk in yet. it is incredible to think it, you know, i've been coming here for a lot of years now, plenty of tough years and tough results as well, but also some great ones. to do this, though, yeah. but i say, it's everyone is working with us, all the crew everyone at home, and everyone here, we could not do it without our client supporting us, and that will give us the oppo

that will clearly mean he would miss the cheltenham festival, the grand national festival in aintreeand. in the last hour, the international horse —— irish horse racing board has issued a lengthy judgment on this case, expounding that he had breached the rules by acting in a manner which they deemed prejudicial to the integrity and reputation of horse racing. they said that it had caused considerable public dismay and anger, and that they had received an avalanche of complaints. now in trying to decide on the sanction, given this is an unprecedented situation for a panel to be ruling on, they said the sanction had to reflect the seriousness of the incident and deter others. and that's how they came on this 12 month suspension with a second six months suspended, he'll also have to pay 15,000 euros in legal costs. in this judgment, they also talk about what they seem to be a concerted attack on michael elliott, but they haven't been able to find out exactly the reasons for that. they said that elliott had given no credible explanation for the image and that he had accepted that his act

more than 250,000 people filled cheltenham and its racecourse this time last year.remember the day we went to cheltenham, and the next thing three or four weeks later i woke up in intensive care with tubes and jeans beeping and nurses around, and you know, thinking, what�*s going on? —— machines beeping. and for the next eight weeks, john was in hospital fighting for his life. we had a soon call with one of the doctors so that me and the kids were able to see him because that might be the last time we did see him. so that was an awful day. awful day. and even thouthohn survived, there were many complications. gangrene on my thumb and finger and on my toe and that, a bleed on the brain. john and chris believe the whole family caught covid from cheltenham but no one can be entirely sure. the festival was among the last mass gathering to take place in the uk before the nation was overwhelmed by the first wave of the pandemic. a year on, things couldn�*t look more different. but 12 months ago, this was one of the most popular pubs for racegoers. what race week in chelte

she will be the leading jockey at cheltenham this year, no—one can overtake her.arning officers will make arrests if there are any mass gatherings after the match. meanwhile, rangers say several of their players have received "racist, threatening and sicking abuse online" after their europa league defeat to slavia prague, during which it's alleged, one of the czech players directed racist language at glen kamara. slavia say they're considering a criminal complaint against kamara in relation to a later incident in the tunnel. rangers managing director stewart robertson said in a statement... so, rangers didn't feature in the europea league quarterfinal draw which was made earlier, with slavia prague drawn against arsenal. here's the line—up in full — with manchester united also going through last night. they've been drawn against spanish side granada. the draw for the semis was also made, so if united make it through, they could face ajax — the team they beat to win the trophy in 2017. arsenal are in line for a possible meeting with dinamo zagreb, who knocked out t

a year ago, thousands of fans packed the stands with the cheltenham festival the last big sporting eventfter top trainer gordon elliot was photographed sitting astride a dead horse. i think that the images shown in recent weeks, and seeing those breakthrough in the mainstream media and outside of racing media is damaging. and we really need to redouble efforts to build that public trust, and to show the general public that horse welfare is at the centre of everything we do, and that this is just a truly wonderful support. we really need to ensure that the racing fans of the future, those people who may potentially own horses in the future, really get the correct image of horse racing. so we've got a lot of horse racing. so we've got a lot of work to do to make sure that message gets across.— of work to do to make sure that message gets across. before we move on, gordon elliott, _ message gets across. before we move on, gordon elliott, you _ message gets across. before we move on, gordon elliott, you are _ message gets across. before we move on, gordon elliott, you are seeking - on, gordo

there is a massive knock—on effect for the local economy and cheltenham is an integral part of that. win the grand slam with ireland back in 2018. world rugby have announced a new women's international tournament, to start in 2023. it will be called wxv, and the aim is to increase competitiveness, in the build—up to an expanded world cup two years later. as six nations champions, england would be in the top of three tiers, alongwith the next two sides in the table, plus qualifiers from the southern hemisphere and north america. world rugby have invested £6.4 million to cover the first two years of the tournament, which will include 16 teams. chelsea's women will play both legs of their champions league quarter—final against wolfsburg in budapest, because of covid restrictions. the hungarian capital has become a popular venue for european games, involving teams from certain countries, who're not allowed to travel to others. chelsea's games are on the 24th and 31st of march. there'll be no crowd for the rest of england's t20 series in india. over 60,000 fans were allowed in for the fir

scientists are excited about the remarkable discovery of meteroite rock in a residential area near cheltenhamd up in gloucestershire. victoria gill reports. from nuneaton to somerset to wigan, the night sky was lit up by a fireball of space rock just over a week ago. the display was accidentally captured on security footage, and the uk fireball alliance with an array of special cameras managed to follow its trajectory. meteorite trackers honed in on an area of gloucestershire, on a small charred patch on a driveway, and a very vigilant resident in winscombe provided the final clue about where it landed. the moment was when catherine and hannah went out the door. they were heading out for the walk and i was staying in the house, and they said, "what's this on the drive?" and i came out, and we looked at this pile of what looked like crushed coal. what on earth could it be? so it must have come down from the sky. and you start thinking, is it a piece of plane debris or something like that, but we didn't think it looked like that, so even then we started thinking perhaps it's come down from spac

we're under way on the opening day of the cheltenham festival, also being staged without fans, in contrastreciate it winning the first race of the day — the supreme novices's hurdle. the favourite came through comfortably to hand trainer willie mullins a great start to the festival. this the first of seven races today, 28 in total across the four days, of what is national hunt racing's most prestigious meeting of the year. with safety and horse welfare in the spotlight after recent negative headlines. in rugby, the ireland forward cj stander has announced he'll retire from all forms of rugby at the end of ths season. the 30—year—old won his 50th cap during sunday's six nations win over scotland. he has been a mainstay in the ireland side since making his debut back in 2016. born in south africa, he qualified to play under residency rules and went on to win the grand slam with ireland back in 2018. world rugby have announced a new women's international tournament, to start in 2023. it will be called wxv, and the aim is to increase competitiveness, in the build—up to an expanded world cup tw

that race would heard cheltenham drawer as everyone between horse and jockey.se put the kettle on and never looked like running out of steam. and will follow up!— looked like running out of steam. and will follow up! another feature race win for — and will follow up! another feature race win for henry, _ and will follow up! another feature race win for henry, he _ and will follow up! another feature race win for henry, he has - and will follow up! another feature race win for henry, he has now - and will follow up! another feature | race win for henry, he has now won two of those. but in a week with the sport looks to save its reputation, it is still the horses names that they most revered. tiger tiger england can wrap up the t20 series with victory against india tomorrow. they lead the five match contest 2—1 with the game in ahmedebad once again being played without a crowd. speaking to the bbc�*s kal sajad, bowler mark wood says it was something that affected their performance yesterday. those positives and negatives, i do miss the cloud, stadiums and it give

not long until the highlight ofjump racing — the cheltenham gold cup.kmore has had a fantastic start to the final day of the festival. she has just won the triumph hurdle on quilixios. she was already the leading jockey and that makes it six wins this week. blackmore could become the first woman to win the gold cup, which goes off at five past three — she's riding ah plu tar, which is joint—favourite with al—boum photo, who's going for a third successive win. glasgow rangers say several of their players have received racially abusive messages online after their europa league defeat to slavia prague, during which it's alleged, one of the czech players directed racist language at glen kamara. uefa are investigating after midfielder kamara claimed 0ndrej kudela whispered something abusive in his ear — and the rangers players were clearly furious. slavia prague denied the accusation and accused kamara of assaulting kudela in the tunnel after the match. manager stephen gerrard said he 100% trusted his player and backed him. and slavia prague's quarterfinal o

tiger roll shows he still has what it takes, making a fifth win at cheltenham with victory in the cross—countryse. good evening. from the end of this month, there will be a significant reduction in the availability of coronavirus vaccines. the shortage of supplies is expected to last a month. the nhs has written to local health organisations, urging them not to take any new appointments from the 29th march. those who already have bookings are not expected to lose their slot. the bbc has been told that fewer batches of astrazeneca vaccines are available than expected. despite that, ministers insist that the vaccination targets they set are still achievable. during the day, the department of health announced that 25 million people have now had their first, as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. every jab another step towards the way out. every injection part of what the government is seeing as a huge success. not far off half the adult population with now some protection against covid. i've got some fantastic news to bring you today... news the health secretary was happy to share. we h

and after a journey through space of 4.6 billion years — the meteorite that fell to earth near cheltenham would not see another fall likely in the uk of any sort, and to realise that it was such a rare type it was really an amazing moment. good afternoon. england's chief medical officer has told mps that coming out of lockdown too quickly would lead to a substantial surge in infection. professor chris whitty said an accelerated easing of restrictions would be dangerous as there are still a lot of vulnerable people who are not yet protected by the vaccine. he also said things could "turn bad" quickly if the process is rushed. our health correspondent jim reed reports. it's the most important, perhaps the most difficult question facing politicians and scientists. how to open up society without causing another major wave of the virus and more pressure on hospitals. speaking in front of mps, england's chief medical officer was cautious, saying even with a successful vaccine programme, another rise in infections is inevitable at some point. what we're going to see is, as things are opening up,

coming up in sport later in the hour on bbc news, we will have the latest from the cheltenham festivalere champion hurdle star rachel blackmore has more rides on day two. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. a damning report into child sex abuse in football says the football association failed to do enough to keep children safe after the scale of the problem came to light. the independent review found the fa was "too slow" to put protection measures in place following the high profile convictions of abusers in 1995. it identified significant institutional failings. our sports correspondent natalie pirks, reports. this is the day survivors have been waiting for, to see black—and—white what they have always known, the fa should have done more to keep them safe. iii should have done more to keep them safe. u, �* should have done more to keep them safe. u, �* ., , should have done more to keep them safe. �* ., , �* safe. ifi can't dealwith this, i'm not going — safe. ifi can't dealwith this, i'm not going to _ safe. ifi can't dealwith this, i'm not going to be _ safe. ifi can