the iraqi prime minister says civilians were among 16 people killed in friday's attacks by the united states on what they say were pro—iranian militants in iraq. the us strikes in syria and iraq were in response to a drone attack last weekend on a us military base that killed three soldiers. us central command says its forces hit 85 targets in total. white house national security spokesmanjohn kirby said three facilities were hit in iraq and four were hit in syria. the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia

groups were struck. these are new pictures released by us central command of 8—1 bombers taking off to carry out the air strikes. our north america correspondent will vernon has the latest. american bombers carried out air strikes on more than 85 targets. the us military said they included the personnel and facilities of iran's revolutionary guard and the militant groups it backs. but the air strikes hit locations only in iraq and syria. iranian territory was not targeted. the message from the white house — the us doesn't want a war with tehran. the goal here is to get these attacks to stop. this was about degrading capability, taking away capabilities by the militant groups. these responses began tonight. they're not going to end tonight. so there will be additional responses. and this is what america is responding to. a drone attack on a us base injordan last sunday killed three us soldiers and wounded dozens more. washington said iran—backed militants were to blame. pressure had been building onjoe biden to respond with force. announcing the start of the air

strikes, the president said... "the united states does not seek conflict in the middle east or anywhere else in the world. "but let all those who might seek to do us harm know this. "if you harm an american, we will respond." in iran yesterday, hours before the strikes were launched, a defiant message from president raisi. translation: we have said many times we will not initiate any war. _ but if anyone wants to bully us, iran will respond firmly. america wants to send a clear message — attacks on us troops must stop. but many are warning of the dangers of escalating tensions in a highly volatile region. will vernon, bbc news, washington. i spoke earlier with shashankjoshi, defence editor at the economist on how deterred iran—backed militia will be after this round of strikes.

iran—backed militia in iraq realised that in killing these american troops injordan, they may have gone too far. now, of course, if you fire more than 150 times at american forces over three months, you run the risk of killing americans. but i think they realise they perhaps had overstepped the mark. so we may see these groups rein it in. we may see iran rein some of these groups in. but i think it really depends. and at the same time, iran having been exposed to this, particularly if there are successive waves of strikes, will also have to save face by responding in some fashion. i think that response will be fairly limited. i don't think there is a very high risk of a spiral of escalation right this minute. but it really depends on, as gordon said, what that next subsequent round of american strikes looks like. you talk about iran reining these groups in. how much influence, how much capability does it have to do that, do you think? it depends which groups we're talking about. these are different relationships here. some of them are very well armed,

on their own accord like hezbollah. some of them are probably a little bit more independent of iranian direction, like the houthis. and the iraqi militias are also a fairly diverse number of groups, under the umbrella category of the resistance movement in iraq. but, you know, they've been stocked up by iran. they have missiles. these are not, in many cases, terribly sophisticated attacks. they can fire rockets towards american bases on their own steam. however, i think they probably do depend on iran in some cases for intelligence and targeting information. and i think iran probably does also have a fairly substantial degree of political influence over what they do. so whilst there's an arm's length relationship, iran does nonetheless wield considerable influence over their actions. in terms of the retaliatory action by the us, how substantial do you think it is compared to previous events where they've retaliated and where do you think

they could go next? it's significantly more substantial than all of the previous eight or nine rounds of minimal retaliation in the last three months. it's about the same size, i was looking at the figures, i think it's about 125 precision munitions, about the same size as the first round of strikes against the houthis in yemen back almost a month ago. so i would call that modest, in line with expectations, as your previous speakers have said. and i think the fact that america has signaled this for so long means that the irgc, the revolutionary guards, will really have had ample time to get their people out of the way. this was not a strike intended to kill lots of senior iranians. and i think that says something interesting. iraq's government has condemned the us strikes on iranian targets in their country. bbc persia has more from baghdad. the their country. bbc persia has more from baghdad-— their country. bbc persia has more from baghdad. the most important reaction, i believe, _ from baghdad. the most important reaction, i believe, happened -

from baghdad. the most important reaction, i believe, happened from| reaction, i believe, happened from the iraqi government's side. they first of all denied the americans had given them warning ahead of the attack and also, the way that they have put their statement out, it shows that they are angry with the scale of the attack that happened in iraqi soil. until now, they confirmed that around 16 people have been killed, including probably some civilians, but mainly from militia fighters. and what they mentioned in their statement is that the presence of the international us led coalition here has turned to something away from what they had mandate for and now is jeopardising iraqi security and putting iraq in an awkward situation. i heard from a

higher adviserfor the iraqi prime higher adviser for the iraqi prime minister, higher adviserfor the iraqi prime minister, who told me that they gave a lot of messages to washington to this time not attack iraq because this time not attack iraq because this is exactly what the iraqi government was worried about, having casualties in iraqi soilfrom iraqi fighters, which the iraq government believe this canjust fighters, which the iraq government believe this can just intensify the attacks on us bases in iraq and syria from iraq. and it will put baghdad, once again, between iran and the us in a very difficult position. and the us in a very difficult osition. �* _, , ., ., position. and when it comes to iran, the have position. and when it comes to iran, they have not _ position. and when it comes to iran, they have not surprisingly _ position. and when it comes to iran, they have not surprisingly been - position. and when it comes to iran, they have not surprisingly been very| they have not surprisingly been very critical, strongly condemning the attacks, saying these are violation of the sovereignty and territorial

integrity of both countries. foreign minister there says this represents another adventurous and strategic mistake by the united states that will only result in increased tension and instability in the region, and i guess now we wait to see whether or not they react and in anyway. what are your expectations of what we could get from iran? it is highly unlikely that the iranians will respond to something that hasn't happened to them directly. before this attack, tehran was worried that maybe washington was considering attacking some areas inside iran, which they had sent a lot of messages through baghdad and iran's airforce lot of messages through baghdad and iran's air force commander came lot of messages through baghdad and iran's airforce commander came here to baghdad right after the attack on us base injordan to deliver this message that, first of all, as they

say, iran was behind this attack and didn't have any knowledge about this attack, and also sent some messages to baghdad, to washington, that any attack on iranians soil will have massive consequences. so the attack hadn't happened against iran directly itself, and they also denied that these positions that had been bombed belonged to iran's revolutionary guard. they say that they basically have nothing to do with it but condemned the attack on their neighbourhood. in with it but condemned the attack on their neighbourhood.— with it but condemned the attack on their neighbourhood. in the next few hours, their neighbourhood. in the next few hours. northern _ their neighbourhood. in the next few hours, northern ireland _ their neighbourhood. in the next few hours, northern ireland is _ their neighbourhood. in the next few hours, northern ireland is expected l hours, northern ireland is expected to have its first nine —ish nationalist leader since it was formed over a century ago. shall o'neal is due to become first minister of the devolved government. her party, sinn fein, hopes to unite the province with the republic of ireland. sinn fein became the

biggest party during elections two years ago, but the devolved government collapsed when the main unionist party, which once the province to remain part of the united kingdom, walked out in protest as opposed to —— opposing brexit trade arrangements. for more on this, we go live to stormont. welcome to stormont, we have been inside for the past hour because we are now only a couple of hours away from the formalities kicking off inside. we will show you a quick lay of the land. these are the front doors, the beautifulfacade is that way. we come in here. this is where the world's press and media is. you can see the tripods there. there is a media briefing going on so lots of activity at these tripods. just so

you are aware, these steps might be familiar to you, we are expecting a politician to come down and there is a microphone there. we will be waiting to see. they will head in through those double doors there, whether chamber is and that is where all of the formalities begin at 1pm here local time. firstjob is to speak and nothing can happen until that happens, and then we get into the moment that we are all here, a truly symbolic moment. chris page. talk us through this symbolic moment we will see injust talk us through this symbolic moment we will see in just under two hours. you will have members of the stormont assembly coming downstairs here, background staircase. they will then go into the assembly chamberjust over on this side of the building. they will take their seats. it is not the first time they had taken their seats in the two years there has not been a government. there has been some

assembly recall is, for example when queen elizabeth ii died. this will not be the first time they have sat there in two years but it is the first substantial time. the speaker will be elected, so the outgoing speaker of sinn fein, a significant figure in northern ireland politics, handing over the reins of thatjob to any speaker, deputy speaker will then also be elected. once the assembly as a leader in the form of assembly as a leader in the form of a speaker, it will be on to the most significant moment of the day, the appointment, the installation of the first deputy and first ministers, leaders of the co—leaders. the leaders of the co-leaders. the symbolism _ leaders of the co-leaders. the symbolism comes _ leaders of the co—leaders. the symbolism comes from the first minister. , ., , ., , symbolism comes from the first minister. , ., , ., minister. yes, the “ob goes to the first minister — minister. yes, the “ob goes to the first minister of — minister. yes, the job goes to the

first minister of the _ minister. yes, the job goes to the first minister of the largest - minister. yes, the job goes to the j first minister of the largest party, sinn fein, the nationalist party, who won seats for the first time in 2022. -- who won seats for the first time in 2022. —— won the most seats. michelle o'neill will take the plaintive office and then will address the chamber for the first time as first minister. the deputy first minister, from the democratic unionist party, possibly we are hearing one of their senior members, formerjunior minister here, then the same process will be taken forward to put the deputy first minister in place. the two posts are legally equal, the same powers, they cannot make a decision in isolation from the other, but the symbolism is what matters, one politician is first minister and the other deputy first minister and the other deputy first minister and in northern ireland, that is not insignificant. it has not happened before. you can see photographs around here, portraits fell first and deputy first ministers. on the other side

the whole, martin mcguinness is there, deputy first leaderfor the whole, martin mcguinness is there, deputy first leader for eight or nine years, a member of sinn fein, a key figure in the peace process in northern ireland, a former paramilitary commander. those nationalists, and michelle o'neill of sinn fein, the first minister. it does not mean there are more nationalists than unionists, just about more unionist than nationalists in the chamber, but sinn fein are the largest party and people will think that matters. let's consider what people will be thinking outside this great hall and this grand setting. beyond prehistoric first, —— that historic first, the priority is to get politicians working and getting things done again. bud politicians working and getting things done again.— politicians working and getting things done again. and if you hear about people _ things done again. and if you hear about people in — things done again. and if you hear about people in northern - things done again. and if you hear about people in northern ireland, | things done again. and if you hear.

about people in northern ireland, it has the longest hospital waiting times in the uk so far, and they don't know what the budget will be into the next financial year, and the quality of water here, the water pollution, it is bread—and—butter issues that people will be concentrating on and the politics is one thing, the business of politicians is quite another. that will be the phone focus over the next few days.— will be the phone focus over the next few days. thank you, chris. it is not far away _ next few days. thank you, chris. it is not far away now, _ next few days. thank you, chris. it is not far away now, just _ next few days. thank you, chris. it is not far away now, just over - next few days. thank you, chris. it is not far away now, just over 90 l is not far away now, just over 90 minutes or so. basically, two years in the waiting we will start to see those politicians head down the steps and get a business here. thank you, lewis. now it's time for a look at today's sport. india are on top after day two of the second test against england in vizag.

the tourists finished on 253 at the close, still 143 behind india. the day started with india's opener yashasvi jaiswal moving on to a magnificent double hundred. he was finally out for 209. james anderson took his wicket, and ended up with three, along with spinners shoaib bashir and rehan ahmed. england started quickly, with zak crawley racing to a quick half century, but wickets started to fall, mainly to india's star fast bowlerjaprit bumrah. joe root went for just five, captain ben stokes for a7, and india are fimly in control heading into day three. they'll sex without loss heading into day three now. —— they are six without loss. on friday, south korea made it through to the semifinals of the

asian cup after a 96 minute equaliser against australia, and then won the match in extra time. elsewhere, jordan beat to pick a standby i—o. elsewhere, jordan beat to pick a standby 1—0. these are the matches in the africa cup of nations. a busy saturday in the uk with premier league matches. everton take on tottenham in the lunchtime kick—off. the manager says he is not worried about relegation but admits they need to turn performances into victories. the they need to turn performances into victories. ., ., , victories. the moment of truth is the moment _ victories. the moment of truth is the moment that _ victories. the moment of truth is the moment that pays _ victories. the moment of truth is the moment that pays you - victories. the moment of truth is the moment that pays you back, | victories. the moment of truth is i the moment that pays you back, the moment of clarity in front of goal, the final pass, the final delivery. that is the icing on the cake. you have to take advantage of the statistics by scoring at one end and stopping them at the other.

today, england begin their second six nations campaign under steve borthwick in rome against italy, looking to improve on their recent poor record in the annual tournament. england finished fourth in last year's competition but flanker ben earl says the squad are more focused this time. he's not really spoken about result—wise, he's spoken about the performance, about the intensity we want to bring. i think if we get that right, that will combine with the right result. we know that the individuals that we've picked and the team that we've got, when they're at their best, we're going to be very hard to beat and, you know, we've trained pretty close to our best all week so, yeah, looking forward to seeing that on the pitch. after that match, wales host scotland here at the principality stadium, where the roof will be closed after the visitors had a late change of heart. gregor townsend's side had asked initially for the roof to be left open, a decision which wales coach warren gatland called "disappointing." scotland have now asked to have the roof closed with rain forecast later. scotland haven't won in cardiff for 22 years but have a great opportunity against an inexperienced wales team.

the hope is for a win, obviously. no, i think we've been down here, we've, at times we've played well and not managed to win it, times we've not performed to our best. i think tomorrow, as i mentioned earlier, we focused highly on ourselves this week, so for us to put a good performance out there against wales, that's the aim and, ideally, that's getting the win. as i mentioned, again, it's not easy an easy place to come in front of — i don't know how many it was — 80,000 welsh fans — but, again, an exciting challenge for us when we're gonna take the pitch. it's massive — the buzz, the noise, everything about isjust unbelievable and it's something you can't really explain butjust that feeling of passion, pride, everything from the crowd that you get. it's like having an extra man out there on the field and i know as one of the players, we're looking forward to it tomorrow, definitely. you can follow all the six nations rugby and live sport on the bbc sport website. back to you, samantha's. police say the suspect in a

corrosive substance attack on woman and daughter in london was last seen at cross station. he was seen boarding a victoria line train heading southbound on wednesday. police have released new images of the suspect inside the station about 90 minutes after the attack. the 31—year—old woman remains very poorly with expected life changing injuries. graham satchell has the latest. a series of raids in london and newcastle, as police close the net on abdul shokoor ezedi. you can see officers wearing hazmat suits and gas masks to protect themselves. in one property, two empty containers were found with warning labels saying "corrosive material." the latest pictures of abdul shokoor ezedi show him at king's cross station in london on wednesday night, a serious injury to the right side of his face clearly visible. ezedi is the main suspect in a violent attack.

it left a 31—year—old woman and two young girls, aged just eight and three, with serious burns after alkaline was thrown at them. a clearer picture is emerging of ezedi's past. he arrived in this country from afghanistan, claimed asylum twice and was refused. in 2018 he pleaded guilty to two offences, sexual assault and exposure. he was given a suspended sentence and put on the sex offenders register for ten years. but despite that, in 2020, after converting to christianity, his application for asylum was eventually granted. this police investigation is fast—moving and stretches across the country. officers will be scouring cctv, finding ezedi's friends and associates. but they have also made this direct appeal. abdul, you clearly have got some very significant injuries. we have seen the images. you need some medical help. so do the right thing, and hand yourself in. police have had dozens of calls from the public with possible sightings of the suspect, but more than two days after the horrifying attack in south london,

abdul shokoor ezedi is still on the run. graham satchell, bbc news. i spent our correspondent simon jones outside scotland yard and gave us this update. —— i spoke to our correspondent. us this update. -- i spoke to our correspondent.— us this update. -- i spoke to our correspondent. there has been no breakthrough _ correspondent. there has been no breakthrough in _ correspondent. there has been no breakthrough in this _ correspondent. there has been no breakthrough in this manhunt, - breakthrough in this manhunt, currently in its third day, so the question remains, where is he? we know the metropolitan police are involved in the search, officers on the ground also looking at cctv. northumbria police are also involved, as well as the british transport police, and otherforces in the uk are on a high state of alert. what we know is that police had managed to piece together a better picture of what happened on the actual day of the attack, on wednesday. the police say abdul shokoor ezedi drove from newcastle, where he was staying, he left there in the very early hours of wednesday morning and travelled down to

london. his vehicle was first spotted at around 6:30am in tooting, south london. there were then further sightings of his car during the course of the afternoon, then the course of the afternoon, then the attack in clapham just before half past seven in the evening, and then he was last spotted on the london underground, getting on underground train at king's cross station at exactly 9pm that wednesday. the police will inevitably be frustrated that they still have not found their suspect and they will be looking at cctv as well as appealing for the public for their help. we know —— they know the public can be their eyes and ears. it is thought he has a very serious facial injury, potentially caused by the attack was carried out. the police if anyone sees abdul shokoor ezedi, they should basically call 999 immediately and not approach

him, because he is potentially a dangerous man. but in terms of this manhunt, it is ongoing but no major development so far today. manhunt, it is ongoing but no ma'or development so far today.�* development so far today. simon jones there- _ development so far today. simon jones there. three _ development so far today. simon jones there. three people - development so far today. simon jones there. three people had i development so far today. simon i jones there. three people had been injured, one of them seriously, in a knife attack in paris. the incident happened this morning at around 8am local time in a railway station. it is one of the main stations in the french capital and police say a man has been arrested. argentina's security minister says criminal proceedings will begin against protesters who vandalised public buildings and classroom police after the approval of a package of free economic reforms. the incident happened outside congress in buenos aires in friday evening. the bill authorises the privatisation of most state owned companies and slashes public spending. it will also allow the presidentjavier milei to pass laws on several issues without the

need of congressional approval. that is it from me for the moment. do stay with us on bbc news. thanks for watching. hello. bit of sunshine for some of you today, but overall there will be plenty of cloud, too, especially tomorrow. and the overriding theme for the weekend is just how mild it is for early february, but also a little bit on the blustery side, too. now, today so far have been a bit of a north—south split dividing line, has been this weather front, which wobbles a bit further northwards into the afternoon. south of it, still plenty of cloud, a few glimpses of sunshine towards east anglia, the southeast, but the cloud in the west thick enough to produce rain or drizzle over the hills and coast. itjust starts to edge back into parts of northern england and further north in england you'll stay with the sunshine sunny spells in scotland, northern ireland, a few showers in the north and west of scotland and temperatures still well above average for early february. so it will be mild at cardiff, certainly as wales and scotland get their six nations campaign under way, but always the chance

of some light rain or drizzle in that breeze. with cloudy conditions dominating into. tonight the cloud sits there in the south, but we'll start to see it increase across many western areas. briefly clear for eastern parts and temperatures will take an initial dip, but they will lift up later in the night, seven to around 11 degrees to start sunday for most. but notice a wetter start for scotland and northern ireland. indeed, quite a bit of rain to come here for some of you on sunday, especially through western scotland. the rain will ease off at times in northern ireland the further south you are. outbreaks of rain for northern england. much cloudier day here, too, staying very cloudy further south with some spots of light rain or drizzle. but many will be dry and a few breaks in the cloud possible.

that's the sunshine on sunday. orkney and shetland, sunshine and showers here. now, as you go through sunday night and into monday, an area of low pressure starts to push close to the north of scotland and that will intensify the rainfall across parts of the north and west highlands. it's here where we could see well over 100 millimetres of rainfall between sunday and the end of monday. so the risk of some flooding, cold air could produce sleet and snow in orkney and shetland. but from southern scotland southwards it's back to a case of misty, murky, drizzly conditions around western coasts and hills. many though to the east of high ground will be dry. some breaks in the cloud, a bit of sunshine and still staying fairly mild. just two degrees, though, in lerwick. and that colder air is going to tussle it out with the milder air as we go through this week. but notice in all the capital cities forecast, the temperatures will drop rain at times, but things could turn a little bit wintry later in the week. see you soon.

this is bbc news. the headlines... iraq says 16 people including civilians were killed when the united states launched strikes. they also targeted sites in syria. the strikes are in retaliation to a drone attack last week on a us military base injordan, which killed three soldiers. northern ireland's devolved government returns today. michelle o'neill will become still mount�*s first irish nationalist leader. three people have been injured in a nice attack in paris. a man has been arrested. the hunt continues for a man

expected of a corrosive substance attack on a mother and her daughters in south london. a team of british scientists and engineers land in antarctica to test a new training to help forecast the impact of climate change. now on bbc news... unspun world withjohn simpson. hello and welcome to unspun world. is russia now starting to win its war against ukraine? the huge moral dilemma is between saving lives and sacrificing ukrainian territory, identity or independent existence.