meanwhile, the us defence secretary, lloyd austin, has said he doesn't believe a �*full—blown fight�* between israel and hezbollah is inevitable. the israeli government has vowed a harsh response to a rocket attack three days ago, that killed 12 young people in the israeli—occupied golan heights. israel has blamed hezbollah for the strike; the group has denied this. more now on our lead story and merseyside police have named the three girls killed in yesterday's attack in southport. they are 7—year—old elsie dot stancombe, 9—year—old alice dasilva aguiar and 6—year—old bebe king. a short time ago, prime minister sir keir starmer laid flowers at the scene and thanked emergency service workers.

emily spurrell is the merseyside police and crime commissioner. shejoins me now from southport. thank you so much for being with us. it is another devastating day for the whole community with that confirmation of the third death. yes, deeply upsetting to know there is another young life that has been lost. and, as you say, i think the last 2a hours or more now have just been very distressing. the community are obviously still reeling from such an awful attack and obviously, you know, you've seen a lot of people have been paying their respects in various ways, particularly laying flowers. be seen strong support from the community butjust strong support from the community but just a strong support from the community butjust a very, very sad day for everyone. i butjust a very, very sad day for everyone-— butjust a very, very sad day for eve one. i. ., ., everyone. i saw you a little earlier in the day — everyone. i saw you a little earlier in the day your— everyone. i saw you a little earlier in the day your own _ everyone. i saw you a little earlier in the day your own floral - everyone. i saw you a little earlier in the day your own floral tribute. | in the day your own floral tribute. you were there, very close to the scene. just describe the viewers around the world who are watching

this, just the shot, the trauma that has been felt in that community. i think nobody expects this to happen but the way it has happened in such a shocking way. the but the way it has happened in such a shocking way-— a shocking way. the fact that these were, ou a shocking way. the fact that these were. you know. — a shocking way. the fact that these were, you know, young _ a shocking way. the fact that these were, you know, young girls- a shocking way. the fact that these were, you know, young girls doing| were, you know, young girls doing exactly what they should have been doing on their summer holidays having a dance party, this is exactly where should have been. and i think everyone is reallyjust shocked that such an ordeal could happen. it's in a real outpouring of grief. evenjust in happen. it's in a real outpouring of grief. even just in the past couple of hours that i went to visit the site today, you know, the tributes, the flowers, teddy bears that people are leaving. the community are feeling this and they're all trying to do whatever they can to just share the kind of love and support forfamilies and share the kind of love and support for families and everybody who has been affected by it. {singe for families and everybody who has been affected by it.— for families and everybody who has been affected by it. give me an idea of how the families _ been affected by it. give me an idea of how the families themselves, - of how the families themselves, because there are so many families, how they have been supported. those families who — how they have been supported. those families who have _ how they have been supported. those families who have been _ how they have been supported. turn families who have been directly affected have been supported by

merseyside police dedicated family liaison officers. so they're obviously supporting them. theirs were obviously at home but those still in hospital as well. we also have a huge range of support available from the community. we have our service as well which is available for everybody who is struggling or he just wants to have a conversation. we recognise that may not be today, it might not be tomorrow, it might be in a few weeks or even a few months that people might just or even a few months that people mightjust be that opportunity to have a conversation so we are sure that all of these resources and all of that support is being put out there to the community as well. in all of the statements that the police have been out they have been urging people not to speculate to avoid going on social media, but people are searching for answers and, as we are talking now, there are very few, i went there? i understand, you know, people are angry. i am angry. we cannot believe that this incident has happened. we want to know why and how and what led up to this shocking event so

absolutely people want answers. we just need to give the police the time to find those answers. they have said they have got this individual in custody. they are conducting those interviews, they are doing that background investigation that will hopefully get some of those answers but they need the time and space to do this properly. i urge people not to share things online. there are names circulating which are completely incorrect hand, you know, it has the potential to cause division in our communities and actually what we want right now is a support, a united front, getting behind these communities, allowing the police to do theirjob so that hopefully we can getjustice for them in the long term. we can get 'ustice for them in the long term. ~ ., ., ., term. we have to leave it there. merseyside _ term. we have to leave it there. merseyside police _ term. we have to leave it there. merseyside police and _ term. we have to leave it there. merseyside police and crime - merseyside police and crime commissioner. thank you for taking time to speak to us here on bbc news. thank you. all the while, we are seeing more tributes there at the scene. we are expecting in the next little while to have the very

latest from the home secretary, yvette cooper who was there on the ground a little earlier. she is set to give a statement in the house of commons. when that happens, we think in the next 20 minutes or so, we will carry that live on bbc news and all the latest developments so do stay with us. now, the public inquiry into the 1998 in the bombing is holding its first hearing. 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were murdered in the attack by the real ira. the inquiry will examine whether steps could have been taken to prevent it. 0ur ireland correspondent, sara girvin, has the details. walking into a public inquiry. these are steps that 0magh families have waited a quarter of a century to take. they want answers for their loved ones. this is aiden's place on the stone. it was a war crime what happened here. but the people that done it were never charged with a war crime. aiden was in 0magh shopping on the day of the bomb, but the 21—year—old never came home.

in what was the darkest single day in northern ireland's troubles, 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were murdered in the real ira attack. no—one has ever been convicted of the atrocity. bereaved families have spent years fighting for a public inquiry. after a lengthy legal delays, it finally opens today. what do you want to get out of the inquiry? well, first of all, we need answers. we need to know was there anything that could have been done to prevent this bomb from happening? that is probably the most important question that we could ask. this is the worst single failure of intelligence and security in the history of northern ireland. the inquiry is chaired by lord turnbull. i know that the pain of bereavement and the trauma caused by the bombing was felt far beyond the community of 0magh. i know that those killed and injured

ranged in age from those yet to be even born through babies, infants, children and young people with their whole lives ahead of them. these are the names of those killed in the bombing. - james barker. fernando blasco baselga. after the names were read, a minute's silence. for michael, today is an important step forward in a journey that started nearly 26 years ago. ijust feel that, um, aiden's life was totally and absolutely wasted in order that some people wanted to make a political point. he was just a young person that wanted to enjoy his life.

we'll have more in the next hour. i want to return to our main news because as we were watching that we had updates from the order hey children's hospital. let mejust read what they have put out. they have said that we can confirm that seven children were brought to alder hey following the heartbreaking incident in southport yesterday. sadly, despite all our efforts, one child died that of the remaining children are continuing to receive treatment with two remaining in critical care. currently in a stable condition. the thoughts and prayers of everyone at alder hey remain with the children, young people and their families involved and all those affected by yesterday's continue to provide with all the support we can at this devastating time. it certainly in terms of the children that they are looking after, it is worth underlining that to remain in

critical care. they are at alder hey but currently in a stable condition. you may remember in terms of the casualties, because there were eight children also stabbed. five, we were told, were in a critical condition but they were spread across three different hospitals and of course there were three adults as well and we wait for updates on them so that is the latest. we will have more from our correspondence on the ground here on that story in the next several hours. i want to squeeze in before we go to weather, when other important development in terms of the disturbances in venezuela because we are just hearing reported initially by the afp news agency that the venezuelan armed forces expressing absolute loyalty to the president but also a line suggesting that prosecutors are saying that nearly 750 people had been arrested after those

disturbances overnight. we saw a tear gas used, was a rubber and not just caracas but demonstrations in very many different areas in venezuela but that figure of 749 people, that has been attributed to the state prosecutor, 749 arrests being made. you'll have the very latest from that developing story in venezuela as more protests continue with, of course, the opposition disputing that result that installed the president for a third term. we will have more knowledge there is main stories here are just a couple of minutes but let us pause forjust a moment and catch up with the latest weather details. hello there. our heatwave continues across large 0ur heatwave continues across large parts of england and a few areas of wales as well with blue skies and temperatures rocketing upwards. i 20s to low 30s today. it will be hotter than it was yesterday. scotland and northern ireland having some fine by the committee. some

showers across the far north and temperatures into the 20 surfing pleasant but the heat rebuilds across england and wales. top temperature is 32, may be 33 toward south—east england. it is likely, by a few tenths of a degree celsius, to be the hottest day of the year so far and, after such a hot day, lift temperatures overnight will be very slow to come down so still at 11 o'clock, looking at temperatures and a number of our towns and cities up above the 20 celsius mark but of course it does depend where you lift. in the centre of london, 23 at 11 o'clock. there's temperature is around four or 5 degrees lower if you are out in the countryside was not the countryside loses the heat much more quickly than the concrete jungle. now come on into wednesday's for a cuppa got another hot and sunny day coming up for the vast majority of england and wales. fine weather for scotland and northern ireland. there could be a few thunderstorms popping up across south—east england, late in the day, and temperatures probably in the capital more likely to be about 2930

but at the same time will probably see some higher temperatures across parts of the midlands in central southern england but we could see 32 degrees or so. thunderstorms and probably break out more widely than as we get into thursday. the amount of nbc is going to vary a lot from place to place. however, the bigger storms could dump a months worth of rain in the space ofjust a few hours so there is the threat of seeing some localised flash flooding and some disruption. it is going to be another hot day for most of england and wales. temperatures coming up across scotland and northern ireland a bit warmer here as well. friday and saturday eventually low pressure will take over from the atlantic, bringing a change to the weather pattern for scotland and northern ireland with windy weather here, outbreaks of rain pushing in and just coming down a little bit across these north—western areas but it still stays pretty hard across most of england and wales with temperatures for many still beating the mid to upper 20s. the cooler, fresher air, though, eventually will arrive. certainly as we look at the fog art into the beacon this temperatures

closer to normal for the time of year.

live from london, this is bbc news. police have released images of the three victims of yesterday's stabbing attack in north—west england. the girls were aged six, seven and nine. it's understood one of the two adults attacked is leanne lucas, the yoga teacher running the summer holiday dance—class. she has been praised for her bravery. taylor swift pays tribute after the stabbing occurred at the dance class base around her music, describing her horror at the tragic events. the prime minister keir starmer has visited southport to lay flowers near the scene of the attack.

these are the scenes from the house of commons. we are expecting the home secretary yvette cooper to speak in the next few minutes. we will carry that live in. we'll hear from our correspondents in southport and outside alder hey children's hospital. in other news, reports of three deaths and hundreds of arrests in venezuela, as anger over the election result spills over. a series of devastating landslides in southern india kills more than 100 people — officials warn many more victims are trapped. and pollution in the seine forces the olympic organisers to postpone the men's triathlon just hours before it was due to begin. hello and welcome to today's verified live. police have released pictures of the three girls who died

following the mass stabbing in southport in the