after iii long months, the turnstiles are worrying again here as rugby fans return to see the newcastle falconse the southampton saints. also coming up in the programme... heartbreakfor heartbreak for chelsea as barcelona lift the champions league. good evening. fans returning to sporting venues up and down the country today. until now, permitted only under the government's pilot schemes, but football, rugby union and rugby league grounds all throwing open their gates to a limited number of spectators for their games today. along with several race meetings as well. so how's it gone? well, we'll hearfrom jockey megan nicholls in a moment, we'll be live at kingston park shortly, where newcastle face northampton in rugby union's premiership. but first let's sample the atmosphere ourselves, this the scene at the vitality stadium on the south coast, where just over 2,000 fans are watching bournemouth take on brentford in the first leg of their championship playoff semifinal. what a game to return for. around ii,500 will will also be watching the other semi between barnsley and swansea at 8.15. large

and newcastle falcons have all but ended northampton's play—off dreams after beating them 18—10.st warrington wolves, but managed hold out for the win. warrington scored three in the second half to cut the deficit to two points, but a well—timed kenny edwards try allowed the giants to hang on for just their second win so far this season. elsewhere, super league champions st helens scored five tries and kept out salford in a comfortable win. wigan were given a slight scare by leigh before coming from behind to win and keep up their 100% record. earlier today, we also saw racing fans return as courses were allowed to operate at 50% capacity, up to a maximum of a000 people. spectators at redcar lined the home straight to see miss houdini win one of this afternoon's races. spectators have also been allowed in at leicester and windsor. and the first race was at carlisle, where the excitement of having spectators back got a bit much for this runner, stanley snugfit, who got loose in the parade ring and had little desire to be told what to do. staying with horse racing, and the legendar

one of those games was at kingston park where newcastle falcons beat northampton saints with spectators present for the first time in m months. still on the same theme. museums in england, scotland and wales have re—opened their doors again, and one of those welcoming the public was the museum of natural history in oxford. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito went to have a look at one rather familiar object on display. oxford university, the museum of natural history, and not even the rain could dampen the enthusiasm for today's grand reopening and its new work of art. an object that's affected us all. we're here face to face with the thing we've all been trying to avoid, the virus. it is some 8 million times bigger than the real thing. but it does allow you to get up close to something that is both terrible but also strangely beautiful. it's made up of tens of millions of pieces of scientific data, crunched and slowly assembled to reveal this. and the moment of revelation came, i was just taken aback cos i thought, i'd been working for months and months and months during lockdown on m

one of those games was at kingston park where newcastle falcons beat northampton saints with spectatorsse welcoming the public was the museum of natural history in oxford. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito went to have a look at one rather familiar object on display. oxford university, the museum of natural history, and not even

in rugby union, reigning champions exeter chiefs thrashed the newcastle falcons by 7a points to 3.play off. the win also sees them move back into second place and three points behind league leaders bristol. there was a disappointing end for great britain in theirfinal event of the european team championships in poland. the men's four by a00 metres relay team failed to pass on the baton for the final leg of the race. britain had been leading the standings going into the final day. but failing to finish has seen them slip to third overall, behind winners poland and runners—up italy. that's all your sport jane, bye for now. thanks, very much katie. see you in the next hour. the colombian government has deployed 7,000 troops across some of its major towns and cities in a bid to end two months of deadly protests and riots. demonstrators have vowed to march on the streets of the capital, bogota, today, as they continue their stand against poverty, police violence and tax rises. 0ur latin america correspondent will grant reports. colombia is no stranger to violence but these scenes have s

but he'll now miss the rest of the season, including potential play—offs, before he heads to newcastle falconsor england's cricketers is just around the corner, starting with a two—match test series against new zealand, which gets under way on wednesday at lord's. the second test is at edgbaston and could see around 18,000 fans in the stadium — something england's managing director, ashley giles, is looking forward to. it's going to be a really welcome sight for all of us and the players particularly. some of the players will not have played in front of crowds at home for a couple of years now. so we are looking forward to that atmosphere at edgbaston, which is always electric and i suppose it's just another step towards normality for all of us which is great for everyone. and tennis star naomi osaka says she won't be taking questions from the media at the upcoming french open because of the impact on the mental health of players. the four—time grand slam champion, says expecting them to talk after a defeat amounted to "kicking a person while they're down" and added, "we're asked questions, th

and newcastle falcons have all but ended northampton's play—off dreams after beating them 18—10.try allowed the giants to hang on for just their second win so far this season. elsewhere, super league champions st helens scored five tries and kept out salford in a comfortable win. wigan were given a slight scare by leigh before coming from behind to win and keep up their 100% record. earlier today, we also saw racing fans return as courses were allowed to operate at 50% capacity, up to a maximum of 4000 people. spectators at redcar lined the home straight to see miss houdini win one of this afternoon's races. spectators have also been allowed in at leicester and windsor. and the first race was at carlisle, where the excitement of having spectators back got a bit much for this runner, stanley snugfit, who got loose in the parade ring and had little desire to be told what to do. staying with horse racing, and the legendaryjockeyjoe mercer has died at the age of 86. mercer won an incredible 2810 races in his career, including eight british classics. one of the greats of flat—racing,