stay with us on bbc news, still to come: wimbledon champion simona halep and elina svitolina in actiond more, in our sport briefing. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday she'd spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it. every drop of my blood would contribute to the growth of this nation". after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. booster ignition and lift—off of discovery, with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. well, enjoying the show is right. this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: britain's prime ministerfails to get mps to agree to hold a general election. he'll try again later today. that's with a different method. wildfires in california move closer to los angeles. thousands of homes and businesses are evacuated. precautionary

at the wta finals, defending champion elina svitolina is into the semi finals with one group game tolina pliskova beat bianca andreescu after the canadian withdrew after a set through injury. lisa keightley has been appointed as the new head coach of the england women's cricket team. she replaces mark robinson — who stepped down after england's torrid ashes defeat in the summer. clare connor is the ecb's director of women's cricket like any head coach coming and you wa nt to like any head coach coming and you want to make an immediate impact and i think that lisa will start with us in the new year it will only have a month before that tournament really gets under way in australia. i think one of the huge advantages to lisa and the two main advantages for pre—existing relationships with the real in—depth knowledge of many of oui’ real in—depth knowledge of many of our players and over and western australia. to mr cricket australia. amyjones, natalie and katherine brunt all played over and perth. she's got a really good relationships so really good current knowledge about some of our p

defending champion, elina svitolina through to the semis of the wta tour finals in shenzhen. to see who'll win the world series. the deciding game between washington nationals and houston astros is underway at minute maid park in houston — and we can go live to our reporter tulsen tollett. ican i can tell you, the atmosphere here compared to 2a hours ago is absolutely incredible. the houston astros were 1—0 up. it's been quite an occasion. you can't really see here, washington supporters, over this way, so many supporters here. i don't think you need me at all. i don't think you need me at all. i don't think you need me at all. i don't think you need me. let's go through here. come through here. this man here. zach has been the standout player. let me ask you, probably the most perfect innings in this world series. absolutely. bring oi'i this world series. absolutely. bring on the championship. let's go, baby. we're going to need a couple more but he's got it in us. have a look at this. these are happy people over here. happy families indeed. as i said, the atmosphere has bee

to tennis — and the defending champion elina svitolina is the first player through to the semi—finalsn, china. the ukrainian — who's the number eight seed — beat the wimbledon champion simona halep in straight sets to make it two wins out of two in the round—robin phase of the tournament. svitolina won 7—5, 6—3 to seal her place in the last four with a match to spare. in the day's other game, karolina pliskova claimed herfirst victory of the tournament. she was a "set up" against bianca andreescu when the us open champion was forced to retire injured. friday's match between pliskova and simona halep will decide who joins svitolina in the semi—finals. and that is all the sport. see you shortly. welcome back. this is bbc news. the london fire brigade commissioner has rejected calls for her to resigned. 72 people died in the tower block fire injune 72 people died in the tower block fire in june 2017. 72 people died in the tower block fire injune 2017. our special correspondent reports and we warn you, some correspondent reports and we warn you, some viewers correspondent reports and we w

in the women's draw, there was a surprise as top seed elina svitolina was dumped out by veronika kudermetovaaying against a top five player for the first time. baseball and game four of the american league championship series is underway in new york where the yankees are playing houston. they're in the bottom of the second inning, and the yankees lead i—o. houston lead the best—of—7 series 2—1. washington nationals have already qualified for the world series. the definition of pressure — one shot to win a car worth more than $40,000. that was the reward for this effort from brittany altomare in the first round of the lpga championship in shanghai. on just the second hole of her round, the american sank a hole—in—one. and the sponsors prize, of a car, is coming her way. she sits just three off leaders amy yang and nasa hataoka. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the team, we'll see you next time. hello. given that we've seen so much in the way of rain and some pretty hefty showers over the past few days, in manys parts of the british isle

there were also wins for elina svitolina and kiki bertens.osing in on a spot in the end—of—season tourfinals, too. his 6—3, 6—3 win over home hope zhang zhizhen moves him just two wins away from the final. that would be enough for a fourth straight appearance in the season—ending showpiece. at the japan open in tokyo, world number one novak djokovic is through to the last eight. he made it pastjapan‘s go soeda. straight sets, too, for the serbian. france's lucas pouille lies in wait next. we are only a few hours away now from the start of day two of the first test between india and south africa in visakhapatnam. south africa urgently need wickets. it is after an unbeaten century from rohit sharma and 84 not—out from mayank agarwal propelled the home side to 202 without loss, before a thunderstorm curtailed play on day one. at bbc.com/sport, you can find details of pakistan's one—day series win over sri lanka. from me, ben croucher, and the sport today team, thanks for watching. we'll see you again soon. hello there. what a changeable week of

in the other purple group match, elina svitolina. beat karolina pliskova in straight sets. 7—6, 6—4—itavour of the ukrainian, who won the tournament last year. roger federer has withdrawn from this week's paris masters in order to "pace himself", with next month's atp finals in london on the horizon. the 38—year—old is playing in his 22nd season on the atp tour and won a record—extending 10th swiss indoors title on sunday. but, a home favourite is through to the second round. jo—wilfried tsonga, who won the title in 2008, took advantage of his wildcard entry. he came from a set down and saved a match point in the second to beat russia's andrey rublev and thrill the french support. spain's fernando verdasco is also through to the second round after fighting back from a set down to beat croatia's borna coric. he will face sixth seed alexander zverev next. the world series is back in houston for game 6 after an extraordinary turnaround by the astros. they had lost both games in texas to the washington nationals, but after their trip to the capital, they now lead the series 3—2 — and know

and top seed elina svitolina is beaten in the last 16 at the kremlin cup.been flooding in for patrick day, who died four days after suffering a brain injury during his super welterweight bout against charles co nwell. as the boxing world comes to terms with yet another death, more questions about its safety are being asked. patrick gearey reports patrick day described himself as a nice guy with a fighter‘s soul. he had a degree, he had options and yet he chose to box. the sport he loved ultimately took his life. four days after suffering a brain injury in a fight against charles conwell in chicago,—day died surrounded by his family and friends. even in a sport defined by violence, such a tragedy produces shock. tributes from

in the women's draw, there was a surprise as top seed elina svitolina was dumped out by veronika kudermetovat time. from moscow to antwerp, where andy murray is in quarter—final action at the european open on friday. it's after another win, this time over eighth seed pablo cuevas. it means murray's now won as many matches as he's lost since returning from hip surgery. the former world number one faces marius copil for a place in the last four, and the scot says he'll need to guard against the romanian's serve. it was many happy ‘returns' for copil — see what we did there — who probably wouldn't have been able to fully celebrate his 29th birthday. although a first victory over murray in a bit mightjust be the best belated present he could ask for. the traditional ca ptain's run training sessions are taking place at the rugby world cup injapan ahead of the weekend's quarter—finals. we already know some of the teams. the rest are being named on friday. first up on saturday is england against australia. wallabies have called up centre jordan petaia for only his third cap, whilst england have dro

elina svitolina has become the first player to book her spot in the semi finals of the season endingmake it seven straight wins in the tournament — stretching back to last year. halep's last group game will be against karolina pliskova — the winnerjoining svitolina in the last four. the czech beat us open champion bianca andreescu — after the canadian retired through injury after the first set. the tournament has already seen naomi osaka withdraw. meanwhile, at the paris masters, fabio fognini wasn't in the best of moods. he lost to canada's denis shapovalov and his racquet bore the brunt of his angst. handle and head snapped clean apart. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. somebody who can always keep his cool somebody who can always keep his cool, it is simon back at westminster. very funny. back to you later on. more on what is going on here at westminster, mps gearing up to fight a general election this winter, voters will head to the polls on december 12, a vote borisjohnson says will give the public a choice over the future brexit and the coun