hello, i'm chetan pathak with your latest news, live from the bbc sports centre. because of adverse weather at augusta national the start of golf�*s first major of the year is being delayed, with play not expected to start until a couple of hours or so. the biggest names from the pga tour and liv series will be competing against one another with the title being defended byjohn rahm whojust moved from one to the other, whilst rory mcilroy�*s chasing that, thus far, elusive first green jacket. joe lynskey reports. april at augusta, golf's greatest spectacle, one man's greatest hope. for 15 years, rory mcilroy has tried. this is the one major he is still yet to win. last time out, he missed the cut. one year on from being runner—up. it is almost one decade since his last major title but the best in this sport

still think it will come. no question he will do it at some point. rory is too talented, too good and he is going to be playing this event for a very long time. he will get it done, it is just a matter of when and it could be this week, you never know. it is flattering, it is nice to hear, in my opinion the best player to play the game say that but does that mean it is going to happen? no. he has been around the game long enough to know at least have the potential to do it. i know i have the potential to do it, to. mcilroy is one ofjust six uk players here. i know i have the potential to do it, too. mcilroy is one ofjust six uk players here. on the saudi—backed liv tour, it is hard to qualify for the masters. lee westwood and ian poulter are two

who won't be here this week. liv and the pga are still in talks on a merger. until then, last year's champion is still one of the rebels. john rahm won the masters then moved to live last december in a deal worth more than £400 million. but no prize fund can buy what they win at augusta. having the jacket, i kept it in my closet in a spot where i would walk past it every single day and inevitably, every once in awhile, you put it on. it is the biggest tournament in the world, no offence to anything else, but this is probably the most followed one by people who don't even play golf. your notoriety goes up quite a bit. is there still an intention or is everyone happy to see each other? you guys like to make it sound like we get in the locker room and are fighting each other, it is nothing like that. whichever tour they play on, there is no easy navigation. augusta is set up to test out the mind, it can be consuming. rory mcilroy�*s first rounds will be with scottie scheffler.

the world number one. it is quite the start to golf�*s show. it is quite the start to golf�*s show. joe lynskey, bbc news. barcelona coach xavi reckons paris saint—germain remain favourites to reach the semifinals of the champions league, despite his side's dramatic victory over p56 in the first leg in paris. barca, the five—time winners, conceded two goals early in the second half as the home side took a 2—1 lead, but goals from brazilian winger raphinha, who scored two on the night, and substuitute andreas christensen who got the winner, turned the tie around. 3—2 it finished, meaning paris st germain will have to win next week in spain if they're to reach the last four. and a potential all—spanish semifinal would await, because it's advantage atletico madrid after their quarterfinalfirst leg — samuel lino scored their second goal, before they held off a late dortmund fightback to win 2—1. nikola jokic scored a game—high 41 points to help the defending nba champions denver nuggets reclaim top

spot in the western conference with a 116—107 victory over the minnesota timberwolves. meanwhile, the cleveland cavaliers beat the memphis grizzlies 110—98 to move within one victory of wrapping up an nba playoff spot. donovan mitchell racked up 29 points and eight assists injust his 10th game since the middle of february. the cavaliers have lost 11 of their last 17, but sit fourth in the eastern conference and would secure a second straight play—off appearance if they beat indiana on friday, or charlotte on sunday. the london lions women's team have made british basketball history after beating besiktas to win the eurocup and becoming the first british team to win a european basketball trophy. the lions won 81—70 at the copperbox arena in london after trailing from the first leg against their turkish opponents. holly winterburn with a huge three points inside the final 20 seconds, as the lions took the crown by the finest of margins, winning byjust four

points on aggregate. and the pioneering hawaii—born sumo wrestling champion akebono has died at the age of 5a. he played football and basketball in high school before breaking into the traditionaljapanese sport of sumo, where he won 11 grand tournament titles during his career. in 1993, he became the first foreign—born grand champion, or yokozuna, and became a japanese citizen in 1996. the united states ambassador to japan called akebono "a giant in the world of sumo, a proud hawaiian and a bridge between the united states and japan." and that's all the sport for now. head over to the bbc sport website, thunderstorms pending at augusta.

this is bbc news. the uk a man has appeared in court. he is charged with possession of a bladed article. wearing a grey searcher he spoke only to confirm his name, age and address. he will appear before bradford crown court tomorrow. alison freeman is in brad bird for us. his appearance at bradford magistrates' court this morning was extremely brief. he was cleanly shaven and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and his address. he is charged with murdering the 27—year—old who was pushing her baby in a pram in bradford on saturday afternoon. she suffered multiple

stab wounds, she was taken to hospital but sadly died later that day. her baby was however unharmed. the defendant who was arrested after a three—day manhunt is also charged with possession of a bladed article. he was remanded in custody and will next appear at bradford crown court tomorrow. the prime minister says the latest nhs waiting list figures are down for their fifth nhs waiting list figures are down for theirfifth month in a row and prove that his plans are working. just over seven and a half million treatments were waiting to be carried out, about a quarter of million fewer than the record high last september. rishi sunak says that the nhs would be on an even better place, but the shadow health secretary says that waiting lists are still longer than when rishi sunak became prime minister. let's have a listen to the pm who spoke a

short while and it a go.— short while and it a go. when i became prime _ short while and it a go. when i became prime minister, - short while and it a go. when i j became prime minister, hayes short while and it a go. when i - became prime minister, hayes said that cutting waiting lists was one of my priorities. while we haven't made as much progress as i would have liked, today's figures show that we are making headway towards that we are making headway towards that goal. a reduction of around 200,000 in the overall waiting list is positive, and if it wasn't for the industrial action, more patients would have been treated. while there is more work to do, the plan is working, and as we have seen their first year on year reduction in amd and ambulance waiting times, a long—term workforce plan and sitting here on a new community diagnostic centre coming is demonstrating we are doing everything we can to get patients the care they need when they need it. the patients the care they need when they need it— patients the care they need when the need it. ,, ., ., ., , they need it. the shadow transport secretary said _ they need it. the shadow transport secretary said the _ they need it. the shadow transport secretary said the government - they need it. the shadow transport secretary said the government had | they need it. the shadow transport | secretary said the government had a long way to go before patients were being seen on time. i

long way to go before patients were being seen on time.— being seen on time. i think most --eole being seen on time. i think most peeple who _ being seen on time. i think most people who have _ being seen on time. i think most people who have tried _ being seen on time. i think most people who have tried to access | being seen on time. i think most - people who have tried to access nhs treatment_ people who have tried to access nhs treatment recently whether it be an appointment or are having to see amd will not _ appointment or are having to see amd will not feel that the targets are being _ will not feel that the targets are being met all that the tories plan is working — being met all that the tories plan is working. waiting lists are still 320,000 — is working. waiting lists are still 320,000 than when rishi sunak became prime minister, so he is failing on its own_ prime minister, so he is failing on its own metrics. a&e waiting times are higher— its own metrics. a&e waiting times are higher as its own metrics. a&e waiting times are higheras ourambulance its own metrics. a&e waiting times are higher as our ambulance weights. labour_ are higher as our ambulance weights. labour have _ are higher as our ambulance weights. labour have a plan funded by tackling — labour have a plan funded by tackling the huge gap in tax avoidance to bring down waiting lists and — avoidance to bring down waiting lists and use the private sector to make _ lists and use the private sector to make sure — lists and use the private sector to make sure that we can use that capacity— make sure that we can use that capacity there to bring down waiting list so _ capacity there to bring down waiting list so people can access the nhs treatment they deserve. that list so people can access the nhs treatment they deserve.- list so people can access the nhs treatment they deserve. that is the news for this _ treatment they deserve. that is the news for this hour _ treatment they deserve. that is the news for this hour now _ treatment they deserve. that is the news for this hour now it's - treatment they deserve. that is the news for this hour now it's time - treatment they deserve. that is the news for this hour now it's time to i news for this hour now it's time to have a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. it's been a fairly cloudy start to the day, but the cloud breaking up for most of us away

from the english channel and irish sea coasts, where we'll hang onto some murky conditions through the day. but for most, it's going to feel warm, and we're looking at spells of hazy sunshine. but if you have an allergy to tree pollen, particularly birch, maybe a bit of plane as well as some ash, these are the pollen levels today, moderate to high across most of the country. now, we've had a weather front which has pushed southwards through the morning, but what it's going to do is start to retreat northward. so it's going to bring some patchy rain back through the south—west and also wales. but for most of us it's dry. it's going to be sunny, albeit hazy at times. one of two showers, western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, the pennines. but temperatures today potentially up to 20 degrees — somewhere in eastern england is most likely for that. so as we head through the evening and overnight, our weatherfront pushing northwards will bring some heavy rain across northern ireland and central southern scotland, where of course the ground is already saturated. it's going to be a mild night, temperatures eight to about 12 degrees quite widely. so it's a mild start to the day for friday. and on friday, what you'll find is it will be a fairly cloudy start across england and wales. most of that cloud breaking up and it will develop into a warm day.

but around the coasts once again we'll hang onto murky conditions, whereas for northern ireland and scotland it's going to be cloudy for you with rain at times and gales developing across the northern and the western isles. temperatures 11 in the north to potentially 21 in the south. and as we head into saturday, once again, we'll start off on a cloudy note across england and wales. that will break up. we'll see some sunshine, but some heavier rain moving in across scotland and also northern ireland. a blustery day, too, with temperatures still on the high side, 20 in london, but starting to cool down in the north. and you can see that illustrated here as we go into the weekend and the early part of next week, as the yellows and ambers are pushed away by the blues, indicating that the temperatures are on the slide. so the outlook from sunday to thursday remains changeable. it will be windy at times. there will be some rain at times, some showers, wintry in the mountains in scotland. but there'll be some sunshine too.

live from london. this is bbc news. as iran vows to punish israel for an air strike killing its commanders — president biden says us support for israel is "iron—clad". russian missiles and drones hit ukraine's energy supply, damaging substations in five regions, and causing power cuts for 200,000 people. a vietnamese property tycoon has been sentenced to death, after one of the biggest corruption trials in history. two former post office managers are giving evidence to an inquiry, on the decisions which led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of people who run post offices in the uk. we have an exclusive look at stunning new discoveries in the ancient city of pompeii. coming up — we'll analyse the groups backing iran as the war in gaza rages on. that's your questions answered in half an hour.