our correspondent hywel griffith reports from cardiff.hemselves the red wall — welsh fans who have made this place a fortress for their team. before tonight, wales were unbeaten at home in 16 games, but few have compared to this. wales could face ukraine in the play—off final, but first they had to beat austria. the visitors could have spoilt the party early, piercing the defence and rattling welsh nerves. but then, ready to calm them, came the captain. commentator: it's bale... injust his third game in four months gareth bale showed he is still good enough for the world stage. maybe the lack of games had made him greedy. bale once again with the midas touch. everything he does is turning to gold! dizzy with celebration, wales were wrong—footed. the deflection helped austria back into the game. danjames could have settled it... james... in the end wales were clinging on. but the red wall wasn't breached again. gareth bale had carried his nation forward. thanks to arguably the finest footballer ever to play in a welsh shirt wales are nowju

hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff.eksandar trajkovski scored the winner in injury time, and they will face portugal in the final eliminator — they beat turkey 3—1. that's the second consecutive world cup italy have failed to qualify for. scotland drew 1—1 with poland in a friendly at hampden. arsenal's kieran tierney scored for the scots before poland equalised in injury time. £10 from each ticket went towards unicef�*s humanitarian work in ukraine. meanwhile, england will be without arsenal forward bukayo saka for the upcoming friendlies against switzerland and ivory coast, after testing positive for covid—i9. saka had been isolating from the rest of the squad at st george's park since yesterday, and has now returned home. england are not planning to call up a replacement. the resurgence of england's women at the cricket world cup has taken them to the verge of the semi—finals, after an outstanding nine—wicket win over pakistan. they made a dreadful start to the tournament, but katherine brunt was back in form, taking

hywel griffith, bbc news.eak now to our correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse. good morning. good to see you. what is the latest news from overnight? well, a couple of sirens and the faint sound of artillery now counts as a quiet night to be honest. we are told by ukrainian forces that they have taken again at the town to they have taken again at the town to the west of kyiv, but we hear reports from a place called borispol to the south—east of kyiv where the bear is calling for people to leave. so it shows how things to leave —— the mayor is calling. western officials say the russian event is continuing to start with the exception of mariupol, mainly because of logistical issues. this is what president zelensky is hoping will bring president putin to the negotiating table. he has once again called for direct talks in any format. this is where it gets a bit vague. his team has said there have will be no compromise on ukraine's security and territorial integrity. he said any compromises if they were to be mad

hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff.nsecutive world cup italy have failed to qualify for. scotland drew 1—1 with poland in a friendly at hampden. arsenal's kieran tierney scored for the scots before poland equalised in injury time. £10 from each ticket went towards unicef�*s humanitarian work in ukraine. meanwhile, england will be without arsenal forward bukayo saka for the upcoming friendlies against switzerland and ivory coast, after testing positive for covid—19. saka had been isolating from the rest of the squad at st george's park since yesterday, and has now returned home. england are not planning to call up a replacement. the resurgence of england's women at the cricket world cup has taken them to the verge of the semi—finals, after an outstanding nine—wicket win over pakistan. they made a dreadful start to the tournament, but katherine brunt was back in form, taking three wickets as pakistan were swept aside forjust 105. and england raced to their target insidejust 20 overs, danni wyatt with an impressive 76 not

hywel griffith, bbc news.n under heavy daily bombardment by president putin's forces. it is in ruins and most of the city's 1.5 million residents have fled — but the ukrainian army is continuing to hold off the russian advance. 0ur correspondent quentin sommerville and camera journalist darren conway have been following the ukrainian army as they defend kharkiv. russia says it's demilitarising ukraine. instead, it's creating a wasteland. what it can't have, it destroys with vengeance. these were family homes on the edge of kharkiv. civilians are daily targets in vladimir putin's war. suburban gardens have become battlefields... ..from europe's past. but here the men of ukraine's 22nd battalion have pulled off a miracle. they've stopped the might of the russian army at their city gates. ill—equipped and vastly outnumbered, three weeks on, they're still holding the line. russian boots have failed to gain hold here. frustrated, they've sent troops elsewhere, leaving heavy artillery to bomb the city into submissio

hywel griffith, bbc news.latest from our correspondent in the ukraine k four. it was like a continuous rolling thunder sound and it was where the majority of russian forces seem to be gathering. it is a fourth morning that we have woken up to news where a residential block has been affected by shrapnel, it has fallen directly on a residential area, one reported deaths and four injuries, and it shows the indiscriminate nature of war which cannot be avoided. as long as missiles are flying in the air, it causes scenes of devastation, but kyiv is a city along with the city to the south where russian forces are being frustrated by ukrainian defence, they cannot circle the city like in other locations. but other cities like sumy to the north and kharkiv to the east, the ukrainian forces tell us they are holding out, repelling russian attacks. the question is for how much longer. as everin question is for how much longer. as ever in this war, mariupol in the south—east has a different story, the level of ukrainian re

hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. for the world cup is crazy. isn't it? now the shock of the night came in italy. the european champions, will not be at the world cup. it's the second time running they will miss out after they were stunned by north macdonia, who defended heroically for 90 minutes and then scored the only goal, of their play—off semi—final in added time. so they will now play in the final eliminator against portugal, who beat turkey. it's just eight months since italy celebrated one of their greatest triumphs — beating england at wembley to win euro 2020. with scotland's play—off semi—final against ukraine, pushed back untiljune, for obvious reasons, the scots had a friendly with poland at hampden. arsenal's kieran tierney scored his first goal for his country before poland equalised in injury time. and a large sum was raised for unicef�*s humanitarian work in ukraine, with a crowd of over 39,000 there, and £10 from each ticket, being donated. the tail enders rescued england on the opening date of the