hello, the latest sports news. the ceo of the us anti—doping agency, travis tygart, has called the treatment of russian figure skater kamila valieva �*sickening' — after it was revealed she'd been given 56 medications over a two year period, when she was aged between 13 and 15. none of the substances were on the world anti—doping agency's banned list — but valieva was banned for four years for doping after testing positive for banned heart medication — shortly before the 2022 winter olympics. it is incredible, it is absolutely sickening that a young girl, skating of course aptly highest level, but for her to have been given that many substances over a relatively short period of time isjust

substances over a relatively short period of time is just inexcusable and frankly those around her, if they have broken any rules or mistreated and abused her in this process, they absolutely need to be held accountable. to football and the last eight teams remaining in this season's european champions league now know their route to the final — with the quarter final and semi final draws made earlier today. the tie of the last eight sees 14—time european champions real madrid against the defending champions manchester city — with the the winner facing either arsenal or bayern munich in the finalfour. the other two ties see paris saint germain take on barcelona, with the winner taking on either atletico madrid or borussia dortmund. in the europa league the favourites liverpool will take on italian side atalanta — with the winner coming up against either benfica or marseille in the final four whilst there's an all italian quarter final as ac milan take on roma, and bundesliga leaders bayer leverkusen will play west ham. and in the europa conference league, aston villa's reward for thrashing

ajax sees them face lille — the winner taking on olympiakos or fenerbahce in the semi finals. the other quarter finals sees club brugges face paok and viktoria plzen against fiorentina. and a huge day is underway in the world of horse racing — with the final day of the cheltenham festival taking place. the most prestigious race of the day — the gold cup — is less than 45 minutes away — with record—breaking irish trainer willie mullins looking to win it for the fourth time in six years mike bushell is there for us. here we are at the top of the famous cheltenham slope right by the winning post where the winner of the 2024 gold cup will be running, galloping past your later this afternoon, notjust in any year within the special year when they are celebrating the 100th anniversary of this iconic gold cup race. 0n the famous course, cleeve hill in the distance forming this

natural amphitheatre which amplifies the roar of the crowd as they come up the roar of the crowd as they come up to the winning post. well this crowd to be seeing for the second year running the crowning glory, retaining the trophy and entering itself into cheltenham folklore. for willie mullins, the trainer who has made history this week by having a hundred winners at the festival, way more than his nearest rival. can anyone make a challenge this afternoon? that is the big question. if you're looking for horses to do that you could mention faster slow, last year's runners up brave man's game. those will be the challengers but it will be a special moment for willie mullins and his whole team if the cheltenham crown is retained. much more from cheltenham on the bbc sport website. more for you later

but that is all the sport for now. the leaders of germany, france and poland are meeting in berlin, in an attempt to show unity for ukraine following russia's invasion. the french president emmanuel macron has called on kyiv�*s allies not to be cowards, and said he wouldn't rule out deploying western troops on the ground. for more i spoke to our correspondentjessica parker who's in berlin. of course the meetings themselves are happening behind closed doors amongst these leaders so we are always slightly left to guess what they will be talking about but it is pretty clear in this unscheduled emergency meeting they are going to be discussing the situation in ukraine and the relationship as you mentioned between the french president emmanuel macron and the german chancellor 0laf scholz. there has been a lot of scrutiny over mixed messages coming from the two countries in terms of support for ukraine. emmanuel macron has been

sounding increasingly hawkish and not long ago he made those remarks that many eyebrows were raised about when he said he wouldn't rule out the idea of one day sending troops to ukraine, something the chancellor 0laf scholz was very quick to roll out and said it absolutely would not happen, germany is not a work party, and since then there have been various potshots between the two countries about who is doing what to help ukraine so a lot of people saying this is an opportunity to try and smooth things over and see if they can get on the same page and at least coordinate their messaging and a better way because this is a really crucial moment for europe. there are genuine fears that if donald trump becomes the president of the united states again in elections later this year it could under the —— undermine the nato military alliance and then countries like france and germany would have to step up in terms of european autonomy. and all of this comes of course against the backdrop of more

calls from kyiv for funding for ukraine's military and hardware of as well. what will the conversations beyond that today? what is the thinking from different countries when it comes to sending additional eight? when it comes to sending additional eiaht? �* ., , when it comes to sending additional eiaht?�* ., ., eight? ammunition is always high on the aaenda eight? ammunition is always high on the agenda and _ eight? ammunition is always high on the agenda and efforts _ eight? ammunition is always high on the agenda and efforts to _ eight? ammunition is always high on the agenda and efforts to more - the agenda and efforts to more ammunition to ukraine although eu countries have conceded they have not been meeting their targets in that regard. i was recently at something that will be a factory one day that will produce ammunition in the coming years, some of which it is planned would go to ukraine but there is an ongoing pressure point and in particular to the debate in germany, these tourist cruise missiles. chancellor 0laf scholz has been under tremendous pressure to allow cruise missiles to be sent to ukraine but he is saying he is not doing that, pretty much rolling it out for the moment which has caused irritation amongst allies including

france and the united kingdom but germany getting a bit irritated themselves because they say, we are only second to the us and the amount of arms that have been pledged to ukraine but obviously a very live debate notjust about ukraine but obviously a very live debate not just about what can ukraine but obviously a very live debate notjust about what can be sent to the —— to ukraine but what can be manufactured. i spoke to one defence boss who said he thought it was about ten years before europe would be in a position in terms of its industrial base to being able to defend itself. turning to the us, it's been revealed an ex—fbi informant, who was indicted last month for allegedly fabricating a story about president biden and his son hunter, was called a "liar and a fraudster" in a previous case. cbs correspondent, scott macfarlane, has the details. this shadowy figure named alexander smirnov, and fbi informant was really at the epicentre of this effort to impeach president biden by republicans in the us congress. alexander smirnov faces criminal

charges accused of fabricating stories about president biden, making a full—screen that biden took bribes, prosecutors are now criminally prosecuting their own federal informant for doing so. 0ur cbs news review found the feds were warned that alexander smirnov back in 2016 when a defence lawyer in a different federal case accused him of spinning tales and telling lies. he made the argument that alexander smirnov has already been damaged goods as an fbi informant years before he told a story which republicans have hooked onto to defend this impeachment inquiry the president which so far has yielded nothing. have we had any reaction from mr biden? the president's team has already asked for an end to this inquiry and in fact in a new letter submitted they asked for it to be done with because nothing is coming of it.

no specific comment to our findings, nor did the fbi, smirnov�*s representative said he stands by his years of service to the department ofjustice. he is a defendant of federal prosecutors in california. thanks forjoining us. let's ta ke let's take you live to vienna where the us secretary of state antony blinken is holding a press conference with the austrian minister. let's listen and because he was making comments about the ongoing situation in ukraine. the united ongoing situation in ukraine. tue: united states ongoing situation in ukraine. tte: united states is very much supportive of this move including liquefied natural gas and we discussed the ongoing transition the countries are making, relate redrawing the energy map of europe at a critical time. as of the foreign minister mentioned we are

collaborating another key regional priorities and notably the western balkans and here i have to commend austria's long—standing leadership in the foreign minister's personal and investment. this is something thatis and investment. this is something that is near and dear to our hearts and particularly president biden because for the president and me when i started out in the 1990s, so much of the focus of the world was on the balkans and bosnia. let’s on the balkans and bosnia. let's leave that _ on the balkans and bosnia. let's leave that they _ on the balkans and bosnia. let's leave that they are. _ on the balkans and bosnia. let's leave that they are. an - on the balkans and bosnia. let's leave that they are. an update that the number of dead as a result of a russian missile attack in 0desa has increased to 16 people with 55 injured in hospital. more on that throughout the day on bbc news so please stay with others. the weekend is going to bring some ups and downs weather—wise not least in terms of the temperatures. it will be a cold and in places frosty

start. the damage of a saturday morning down to —2 for some but for the end of the weekend sunday afternoon 16 celsius and along the way we see some rain but also spells of sunshine. today we have an area of sunshine. today we have an area of low pressure pushing eastwards. this frontal system moving south eastwards the uk, generally a lot of cloud out there but bright and sunny spells developing with ireland having a decent afternoon. some showers in the mix, some heavy particularly towards the south. by the end of the afternoon, it will be cooling off across the northern half of the uk and that sets is up for what will be a cold night because of the clyde will break up with lengthy clear spells, some mist and fog patches around. cloud and rain into the south—west corner in parts of wales later in the night, that will hold the temperature up but elsewhere will be cold and frosty, lows of —1 or —2. a chilly start under this ridge of high pressure but when we see this next frontal

system pushing in from the west. that will bring cloud and rain for some of us and as we go through the day on saturday at more of this mild air working its way in so for many places the tempter will come up quite nicely through the day. a sunny and chilly start across northern and eastern parts. further west, cloud and splashes of rain. a lot not particularly heavy with some more intense burst for a time when northern ireland moving into south—west scotland, the wind picking up on western parts and the temperature rising through the day. as we move through saturday night this band of rain wriggles its way through with heavy bursts and places and we continue to feed milder air into the mix. by sunday morning a very different start to the day with the temperature in double digits for many places, frost free to start sunday and with that a lot of cloud, outbreaks of rain to start the day in eastern parts. that tends to clear and some spells of sunshine

but also showers and some could be on the heavy side. a very mild end to the weekend, the temperature for sunday afternoon, 13—16.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel sends a delegation back to qatar for more talks on a possible ceasefire and hostage deal. hope on the horizon —

an aid ship towing food approaches gaza — we'll hear this hour from those organising that aid relief. russia heads to the polls, with vladimir putin certan to secure his fifth term as president, with any sort of dissent crushed. at least 16 people are killed in russian strikes in 0desa — as the leaders of germany, france and poland hold an emergency talks on ukraine. and stung in action — a swarm of bees halts the indian wells 0pen tennis tournament in california. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live let's turn now to the middle east. an israeli team is travelling to qatar for new talks on a possible ceasefire and hostage deal. israel's pm — benjamin netanyahu has downplayed the chances of a truce