romania are into their first ever fed cup world group semi—final after a 3—2 win over the defending champions victory, french open champion simona halep, who's vowed to win a first fed cup for her country before she retires, dug deep to get the better of former world number one karolina pliskova in three sets 6—4, 5—7, 6—4. also through to the semifinals are australia, who beat the usa 3—2, belarus and france, who swept aside belgium, that the winning moment for caroline garcia who beat elise mertens in straight sets. now to the nba where the la lakers were defeated 143—120 by the philadelphia 76ers. both teams were evenly matched untiljoel embiid scored a flurry of points at the end of the 2nd quarter. the lakers' looked towards their star man in the second half, despite lebron james's efforts, though, his side were still unable to contain embiid, the cameroonian went on to score 37 points and grab 14 rebounds. lebron deciding not to stick around at the end of the game. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. hello. well, the end of last week was pretty s

in tennis, romania are into their first ever fed cup world group semifinal after a 3—2 win over the defendinglep, who's vowed to win a first fed cup for her country before she retires, dug deep to get the better of former world number one karolina pliskova in three sets 6—4, 5—7, 6—4. also through to the semifinals are belarus, australia and france who swept aside belgium, that the winning moment for caroline garcia who beat elise mertens in straight sets. in basketball there are 9 games in the nba on tuesday including toronto raptors in action against brooklyn nets, and the houston rockets against dallas mavericks. on sunday the philadelphia 76ers hosted lebronjames and the los angeles lakers, and won 143—120, thanks tojoel embiid who scored a flurry of points at the end of the 2nd quarter. the la kers looked towards their star man in the second half — but despite lebronjames‘s efforts, his side were still unable to contain embiid. the cameroonian went on to score 37 points and grab 16 rebounds. lebron deciding not to stick around at the end of the game. and before we go, any lego lovers amo

konta and her fed cup team—mates will play their world group two fed cup play—off against kazakhstanh and 21st of april. england'sjodi yewart shadoff is one shot off the pace after the first round of the lpga event in singapore — she opened with a three—under par round of 69. three—time olympic champion ed clancy led great britain to silver in the team pursuit at the world track championships in poland, as australia smashed the world record to claim gold. australia's quartet of leigh howard, sam welsford, kelland o'brien and alex porterfinished in a time of three minutes 48.012 seconds in pruszkow. that lowered their own world record set at the commonwealth games in 2018 and laid down a marker before the tokyo olympics in 2020. we thought we had half a chance, and we did. we put up a decent fight, and we need to look at the data, that was the best ride we've ever done, outside of field index. there is no doubt about that, this is an olympic package team, we will be going places. and great britain's women also took silver in the team pursuit, just like the men, they were beaten by aus

konta and her fed cup team—mates will play their world group two fed cup play—off against kazakhstanrt shadoff is one shot off the pace after the first round of the lpga event in singapore — she opened with a three—under par round of 69. england's women claimed a tense two wicket win over india in the last match of their one—day series. they won it with seven balls to spare and although the series had already gone, it was a boost to their bid to reach the next world cup. 0ur reporter henry moeran has been following the tour. this was an important victory, not just in the context of a series but in the context of the winners championship. england are in seventh place out of 18, it is looking like crucial points to ensure the qualification for the world cup in 2021. the last details and asked to bowl first. india were going well with hundred and 2091 before katherine brunt, the experienced all—rounder took matter in own hands and had a brilliant spell. were turned on five — eight at the end of the innings. england's target, turned in on six looks a distant one but eventually danni wyat

great britain's fed cup team remain on course for a shot at the world group play—offs.tomorrow. we're starting with the crisis in uk racing... the lockdown has been increased after more cases of equine flu were confirmed today. currently racing is cancelled until at least wednesday, prompting concern overjump racing's biggest event — the cheltenham festival, which is just 32 days away. our sports news correspondent richard conway gave me an update earlier. so three additional cases of equine flu now confirmed by the british horse racing authority. that brings the total to six at donald mccain's yard in cheshire. in addition, the vha is saying that there is one suspected case at separate yard. in total, it means 174 training yards across the country are now lockdown, and the reason for this is because the vha is wanting to contain this equine flu as much as possible. there will be no racing until wednesday at the earliest. we will get an update on monday from the bha as to whether the racing can go ahead. they want to make sure that this is a short—term pain for long—ter

and konta fights back to make it five wins out of five for britain's fed cup team as they try to qualify for the world group. hello there. we're starting with the latest on horse—racing's lockdown due to an outbreak of equine flu. all racing has been suspended until next wednesday at the earliest, while the british horse racing authority tries to contain the disease. our corresspondent andy swiss is in yorkshire's racing heartland of malton with the latest. welcome to highfield stables here in north yorkshire, they have about a0 horses here and like so many stables around the country, some of these horses were supposed to be racing this weekend but not any more because the entire sport is on hold as it tries to tackle this new and very difficult challenge, equine flu. no racing now until next wednesday at least, because three horses at a yard and cheshire tested positive for equine flu despite being vaccinated which is really concerning the authorities. they had runners yesterday and meetings and there are concerns that other forces might have been exposed to this contagious disease. authorities are taking

and in april which will determine if they can play in the world group at the fed cup for the first timeeek. she wanted straight sets. a very tight matching the progress between the two number one players. serbian was tight in the first set. a brilliant tie—break. 0ne the first set. a brilliant tie—break. one by 7—1. there was a break—up in the second set as well. ifi break—up in the second set as well. if i have a look at the score now, she's got things back. to have entered in the second set. potentially four games away from victory now great britain. that seems a long way away. thank you. you can follow the action on the bbc sport website. northampton saints are through to the premiership rugby cup final after a record breaking win against the newcastle falcons. northampton had to come from behind though. josh matavesi with the second of three early tries for newcastle, as they raced into a 21—0 lead. northampton fought back — lewis ludlam with their third try — as newcastle led 28—21 at half time. seven more tries followed in the second half, northampton with six of them, including t

fought back to beat maria sakkari of greece in the fed cup to ta ke sakkari of greece in the fed cup to take them closer to a place in the world groups. the search for missing hull university student libby squire continued last night, as a man arrested on suspicion of abducting her remains in police custody. the 21—year—old was captured on cctv in the early hours of last friday morning, following a night out. humberside police say finding her is their top priority. our correspondent sarah corker is in hull. bring us up to date on the investigation and the search. more than 70 police officers have been involved in this week—long search for libby squire but over the last 36 hour the focus of the investigation has moved to a property on this street in hull. that is because, on wednesday night, a 2a—year—old man was arrested here. as you can see, there is still a police presence at the front and back of the property. yesterday we saw crime scene investigators coming in and out, taking away bags of evidence and a car was also towed away as part of the investigation. despite an extensive search of the area, libby's whereabouts remain unkn

and great britain's fed cup team have landed a home tie against kazakhstan in april, in a play—off to reach world grouptime since 1993. they'll probably play at london's copper box arena. the british horse racing authority say strict bio—security control measures will be in place when racing resumes tomorrow after a six—day suspension. among the courses preparing to start up again is chelmsford, where racing returns on thursday, following the outbreak of equine flu in the sport. they've been doing everything they can to make sure there are no further cases. there's lots of bio—security been put in place, i mean we have com pletely put in place, i mean we have completely emptied our stables. they have been disinfected, steam cleaned and they will be bedded down, we have done the same to starting stalls and boxes so we are doing everything physically possible to make sure the horses that come here have a sterile environment to work from. well that's all from sportsday but let's give gordon banks the final word, after he passed away

britain's fed cup tennis team is doing well as they try to qualify for the world group.ay. jo konta fought back to beat maria sakkari. after losing the first set, konta pulled it back to win it a—6, 6—2 6—3 and give gb and unassailable 2—0 lead in the tie. earlier katie boulter had put gb ahead winning her singles rubber in three sets. there are eight teams taking place in two groups with the group winners facing each other in a playoff on saturday. the winner of that will then get a chance to play off for a place in the world group ii. and castleford tigers have gone top of the super league after a 26—18 win at hull fc. tigers scored five tries in the match including two from michael shenton to maintain their 100% start to the season. and that's all your sport for now. hello. we are seeing quite a stormy speu hello. we are seeing quite a stormy spell of weather across the uk. say goodbye to one area of low pressure that brought gwyn guscott to 79 mph over the last 2a hours —— brought wind gusts. our eyes are drawn to the next lump of cloud which is the next storm system

great britains fed cup team will play kazakhstan in april, in a play—off to reach world group two, andd news is, they'll be playing at home, probably at london's copper box arena. it comes after three victories in bath last week. now they face kazakhstan, who's number one yulia putintseva is ranked 43 in the world, four places behind british number one johanna konta. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in sportsday at 10:30pm. thank you. it has the largest oil reserves in the world, but during president maduro's time in office venezuela's economy has collapsed. the cost of living has soared — with prices doubling every 19 days. three million people have fled, most of them since 2015. the united states accuses mr maduro's government of human rights violations and corruption, and has called on him to step down. today, in an exclusive interview with bbc news, mr maduro accused the us of waging a political war on the country. he was speaking to our international correspondent 0rla guerin. 0rla. president maduro, very nice to see you. thank you for having us. and opulent se

world cup in australia. great britain's fed cup team are playing on home soil down in bath, the first of four days of competition which sees two groupset promoted back to the world group. 0ur tennis correspondent russell fuller is there, russell they are under way it is going to be intense, the next four days. there is a lot at stake but great britain have made a great start. a promising start indeed in this complicated format. the first match of the first round—robin match against slovenia is already in the bag. katie walton has made great progress up the rankings in the last 12 months, at a career high of 83. just inside the top 200 this time last year. winning her opening match. at the moment the british number one, johanna konsa, is up against the slovenia number one as far as this tie is concerned. she is leading for games to two. if she can win her match the doubles effectively becomes academic, the tie will be won and britain will concentrate on tomorrow's second round robin match against greece. fairly complicated behind you. the two top teams in these groups will play against each other on saturday, but there is a similar to

great britain's fed cup team will play kazakhstan in april, in a play—off to reach world group two, andably at london's copper box arena. it comes after three victories in bath last week. now they face kazakhstan, whose number one yulia putintseva is ranked 43 in the world, four places behind british number one johanna konta. ronnie o'sullivan survived a scare to progress to the second round of the welsh open. the rocket looked very erratic in the early stages of his match against sanderson lam in cardiff. he was trailing by two frames to one before coming back to win 4—2. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. and more of course in sportsday at 6:30pm. thank you. football greats are continuing to pay tribute to england's world cup winning goalkeeper gordon banks, who's died at the age of 81. just a selection for you of the tributes. football legend pele tweeted: ex—england striker michael owen tweeted: sir geoff hurst said: and one of england's current players raheem sterling says ‘england legend, your legacy will live on.‘ the fo

judging, jo konta fought back to beat maria sakarri of greece in the fed cup, taking britain one step closer to a place in the world groupat 11.30 detectives have been given further time to question a 24 year man in connection with the disappearance of libby squire. he was captured on cctv following a night out. humberside police say finding her as their top priority. 0ur correspondent said caulker is in hull. more than 70 police officers have been involved in this week—long search for libby squire. 0ver have been involved in this week—long search for libby squire. over the last 36 hours of the focus of this investigation has moved to a property on this street here in hull. 0n property on this street here in hull. on wednesday night a 24—year—old man was arrested here. as you can see there is still a police presence at the front and back of this property. yesterday we saw a crime scene investigators coming in and out of the house and taking away bags of evidence. a car was also towed away as part of the investigation. despite an extensive search of the area, libby's whereabouts are unknown. it remains their top priority

beat maria sakarri, of greece, to make it 6 wins out of 6, for britain's fed cup team, as they try to qualify for the world groupeat hungary today. if they win that they go to a play—off in april. then there is a chance to be promoted to the top tier. it is quite confusing try to figure it out. it is quite condensed. if they win today they top the group. ben mee big final through to april. the crowds are very enthusiastic. —— ben mee big final. we spick more injust a moment. first we need to sarah about the weather. it has been miserable. that picture is stunning, but is a real example of what going on. we have some disruptive weather because storm erik is moving in from the north—west. it will bring windy weather wherever you are today. strong winds, some heavy rainfall, blustery showers. the weather will eventually improve through the weekend but certainly today and tomorrow we have the influence of storm eric. here it is moving into the north—west, you can see the isobars on the chart, showing it will be a very windy day around the country. we have heavy rain this morning across parts of scotland, north—west

earn them a place in april's world group 2 play—off where they will get the chance of promotion to the second tier of women's team tennis. iam i am confused. of the hole fed cuped robbers instead of sets as in the davis cup. the matters you call them robbers —— brothers. it is the labelling of davis cup and backup. they play in this final today and then they play another player next month because there is another competition taking place in poland. then they come through that and go up then they come through that and go up into the next... one thing we know is that winning things is good. they are winning and they are on the up. good. but they call them rubbers, not matches. wigan warriors are celebrating the curious achievement of rising to zero points in super league. i don't want to have to explain this. they started the season on minus two after breaking financial rules. they lost last week but recovered to beat leeds rhinos 34—16. leeds go bottom, without a win in their opening two games. that is going to be a great pub quiz question. in years to come. how did a team win to get to zero point?m happens, but not often. tell us something else knew that i do