of the acropolis in greece and the great barrier reef in australia. the area of caithness and sutherland is roughly 50 miles across and covers a total of almost a million acres of land in the scottish highlands. described as the flow country, it contains the most intact and extensive blanket bog system in the world. the peatlands, which have been growing for 10,000 years, are formed by layers of waterlogged mosses and other vegetation as they die off. a decision by unesco on the flow country's nomination is expected next year. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. good afternoon. sunshine is in short supply today. some of those very bright indeed, a beautiful picture earlier on from a weather watcher in essex but compare that with the west of scotland where it's been thoroughly grey, the cloud has been producing outbreaks of rain and you can see the extent of that cloud. many places grey and damp, some

heavy rain in northern scotland, a little bit of brightness sticking out across parts of eastern england. the weather is cloudy, wet or bright where you are, we are all in this wedge of mild air so it does feel unseasonably mild. but as i say sunshine quite limited. the best of it across eastern and southern parts of england, some other eastern parts of england, some other eastern parts of wales, but northern ireland seeing thick cloud, the odd spot of drizzle and that heavy rain continuing to affect northern parts of scotland. 11—13 the top temperatures. turning increasingly windy across scotland as we head into the evening, and this band of increasingly light and patchy rain sinking a little further southwards before beginning to drift northwards again by the end of the night. these are the overnight lows, very mild indeed, 6—10 so a very mild start friday morning. this band of cloud and patchy rain drifting its way through northern england and then up across scotland as we go through the

day. south—west scotland is likely to brighten up as will north west england into the afternoon. northern ireland, wales, central and southern parts of england perhaps a better chance of seeing sunshine tomorrow and we will still be in the mild air so high is for hull and london 14 celsius, above where we should be and we begin the weekend in this wedge of mild air. however, there is something colder waiting in the wings. it's waiting behind this weather front, wings. it's waiting behind this weatherfront, this band of rain, which will move its way into northern ireland and scotland through saturday. ahead of that for england and wales, large amounts of cloud, some sunny spells. it's another mild day but that when the front as we head through saturday night will drift its way southwards. the rain tending to weaken. you can see from the blue triangles it's a cold front. the air behind it will be colder. at the same time this big area of high pressure builds on top of our shores and that means for sunday, yes, a colderfeeling day but at much brighter —looking day. a bit of cloud in north—west scotland,

perhaps the fifa south—west of england but otherwise lots of sunshine albeit with a slightly colder feel. sunshine albeit with a slightly colderfeel. 8—9 . a reminder of our top story. the bank of england increases rent interest rates again from 3.5%, to 4%, as it tries to tackle soaring prices. that's all from the bbc news at 0ne. it's goodbye from me. 0n bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are. good afternoon. i'm laura mcghie. you are watching the bbc news channel. it's 1.33pm and here's your latest sports news. the 2023 six nations get underwayon saturday, wales play ireland while scotland and england will battle it out

for the calcutta cup at twickenham. scotland headcoach gregor townsend has named his team for their opener with finn russell at fly half and former captain stuart hogg at full back. but there's no place in the squad for established forwards zander fagerson and hamish watson or for glasgow warriors scrum half ali price. the last time we were at twickenham we played really well. there were no crowds that day. three years prior to that we were 31—0 down after 30 minutes. not the best performance that day. we came back and almost won the game. as a venue it is one of the toughest places to go. recent memories and evidence that if we play our game, if we are focused and accurate, we can make it really difficult for england. wales will be without a halfpenny for their six nations opener against cardiff. he was due to make his

first start but has been ruled out following a back spasm. it's been announced that some fans will be allowed to stand at the carabao cup final at wembley later this month. 867 safe standing seats will be allocated to both newcastle and manchester united. it will be the first major domestic englishmen�*s final in almost 35 years to allow standing. more countries could join ukraine, in calling for a boycott of the next 0lympics if russian and belarussian athletes are allowed to compete. russia has said, a campaign to exclude it from international sport will fail and the international olympic committee president thomas bach, says he doesn't want to punish individual athletes. baltic nations, latvia, estonia and lithuania are meeting today to discuss a joint appeal to the ioc asking them to maintain the ban. teenage leg spinner rehan ahmed has

been called up to england's limited overs squads for the first time. the 18—year—old became the youngest man to play for englandin the final test in pakistan just before christmas. he then took five wickets in the second innings and though he has been left out of the test squad for new zealand this month, he has now been included for the one day and t20 tour of bangladesh in march. jofra archer is also in the squad. he'll be hoping to build on his return against south africa. six wickets in the final one day game yesterday has given him and his captain a big boost. 0magh was outstanding. he managed to take a wicket. to pick up the wicket straightaway was fantastic. —— jofra was outstanding. formal dress codes are being relaxed

atjockey club race meets across britain. instead of restricting racegoers from watching the action in certain enclosures based on what they are wearing, they say they want visitors to "dress as you feel most comfortable and confident." the change takes place with immediate effect and follows feedback from racegoers. that's all the sport for now. you can, of course, find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. a reminder of that website address — that's bbc.co.uk/sport. i'll be back in an hour with another update. the government has announced it will hold a public inquiry into the 0magh bombing. the biggest single atrocity in the troubles which killed 29 people and injured over 200 others. the attack was carried out by dissident republicans. the northern ireland secretary chris heaton—harris said one of the issues it would look at was whether the bombing was preventable. the 0magh bombing of the 15th of

august 1988 was an horrific terrorist atrocity committed by the real ira, causing untold damage to the families of 29 people, two unborn children who were tragically murdered and the 220 people who were injured that day. to this day, it remains the largest loss of life in a single incident in northern ireland. it took days months after the signing of the belfast agreement majestic as northern ireland had overwhelmingly expressed its desire for peace and stability based on democracy and the principle of consent and a future without violence that had dominated the last three decades. it once again caused and untold pain and suffering. that atrocity as well as other acts of terrorism before and since, there was no justification. terrorism before and since, there was nojustification. a 0magh bombing had been subject to a number

of investigations. this includes the original inquest, investigations by the royal ulster constabulary, the police service of northern ireland and the office of the police ombudsman for northern ireland, as well as a review at the request of the then prime minister gordon brown by sir peter gibson, the intelligence services commissioner. in 2017, my right honourable friend decided to establish a public inquiry, decided not to establish a public inquiry into the 0magh bombing. the decision was made in light of the situation as it was at that time. michael gallagher, who lost his son aidan in the bombing, pursued a judicial review of the decision not to establish a public inquiry into whether there had been a failure to investigate whether the 0magh bomb could have been prevented. following a short summary judgment injuly 2021, the northern

ireland high court found that plausible arguments could be made that the state had failed to comply with its obligation under article two of the european convention on human rights to take reasonable steps to prevent the bombing. it identified four grounds which gave rise to the plausible arguments are prevent ability. these relate to the handling and sharing of intelligence, their use of cell phone analysis, whether there was advance knowledge or reasonable means of knowledge of a bomb and whether destruction operations could all should have been mounted which may well have prevented the tragedy. the court did not prescribe the form of investigation that should take place. it left that to be decided by the state authorities. i had taken time since coming in to post to consider carefully the full judgment. i have met mr gallagher and representatives of the support group he chairs, which helps to promote and advocate for the needs

of the victims of terrorism. i visited the site of the bond with them, a very sobering experience, and crossed the road to the memorial garden commemorating all those who lost their lives. i also met representatives of families moving on, another support group doing incredibly valuable work, helping victims and survivors to grow and get a sense of well—being. i have listened to representations of these families and taking their varying perspectives into account. i considered important factors like the possibility of a future investigation and how best to allay wider public concern. i have weighed it up against the clear finding set out by the court, which we must meet for any investigation to be effective and compliant with international obligations, and which are at the core of my decision. mr deputy speaker i intend to establish

an independent statutory inquiry into the 0magh bombing. i have informed mr gallagher are members of the self—help group as well as representatives of families moving on of this decision. the inquiry will focus specifically on the four grounds which ought held is giving rise to plausible arguments the bombing could have been prevented. the inquiry will also need to take account with the findings of previous investigations to avoid duplication. i know that this is a significant decision and i am keen to explain mounted a house why i believe it is also the most appropriate course of action. firstly, the inquiry will allow us to meet our article to procedural obligations under the european convention on human right as it will have powers of compulsion may be capable of compelling the production of documents and witnesses and subjecting their accounts to scrutiny. the 2008% review of the 0magh bombing did not have such statutory powers meaning sir peter

gibson had no means of witness testimony. it is important any investigation has all tools at its disposal to access any materials. it is for this reason, i discounted the option of a statutory inquiry. i also discounted referring the 0magh case to the independent commission of reconciliation and independent recovery which will be established under a bill currently being considered by the other place. this new body will have all the powers required to access all evidence and compel witnesses. however it has been designed to consider cases which occurred before the good friday agreement. it's well established approach to distinguish between cases, i do not think we should change the approach now and the legislation setting up the commission has yet to pass into law.

also an independent statutory inquiry is an appropriate forum for establishing the last volume of national security sensitive information, which the court has deemed to be at the core of the question as to whether the bomb could have been prevented. a disclosure protocol would have been agreed to take account of sensitive material involved in this case stop thirdly, the inquiry will involve the next—of—kin and will be open to public scrutiny where possible. this will of course be need to be balanced against national security considerations and it is important that some material will not able to be examined in public. a final report will be published responding to each issue identified by the high court. madam deputy speaker, you may be aware that in his judgment, justice horner expressed a desire that a simultaneous article to complain investigation occur in

ireland. he recognised it was not in the power of the court to order a cross—border investigation, nor is it in my power to do so. i remain in contact, in close contact with the irish government on this issue. madam deputy speaker, i wish to assure the has this decision has been taken following careful consideration of the facts and united kingdom's obligations under the european convention on human rights. i hope this gives some comfort to families who have long since campaigned for this outcome. i recognise that not all families affected by the bombing require such further investigation. some have worked hard to process their trauma and move on with their lives and do not wish to re—examine the past. i hope the targeted nature of the inquiry, to allow it to answer the four points i mentioned earlier will

provide middle ground whereby answers are sought for them who want them. in terms of next steps, i will now proceed to identify a chair for the inquiry, to finalise the terms of reference following consultation with that chair. my sense is the terms of reference will be heavily based on the grounds set out by the court. further details will be announced in due course. it is my intention to establish the inquiry as promptly as possible with the investigation to proceed at pace. it must be remembered that those responsible for their death and destruction on that awful day in 1998 are the immoral terrorists. as justice horner highlighted, it is important not to forget that the responsibility for this terrible atrocity, the worst in the last 60 years of northern ireland's history lies with the malevolent and evil

republicans, with complete disregard for human life i planned were planted and detonated a huge bomb among shoppers in the centre of 0magh on a saturday afternoon in august. ifully 0magh on a saturday afternoon in august. i fully agree and compare with those words and commend the statement to the house. —— and concur. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is in 0magh. what sort of reaction has there been to this announcement? yes. what sort of reaction has there been to this announcement?— to this announcement? yes. we are exectin: to this announcement? yes. we are expecting to — to this announcement? yes. we are expecting to hear— to this announcement? yes. we are expecting to hear from _ to this announcement? yes. we are expecting to hear from the - to this announcement? yes. we are expecting to hear from the families | expecting to hear from the families who have been campaigning for a new inquiry a little bit later on this afternoon. i would inquiry a little bit later on this afternoon. iwould imagine, based on what they have been calling for really over a number of years now, they may well be pretty satisfied with what they had just had from chris heaton harris that there is going to be an independent statutory inquiry and at least elements of it

will be public. you've heard mr heaton harris saying that. also making the point that not all the evidence he said, could be heard in public because of national security considerations. rememberthe public because of national security considerations. remember the focus of this investigation will be on intelligence material, that thinking being from their families and backed up being from their families and backed up by being from their families and backed up by legaljudgment they being from their families and backed up by legal judgment they secured being from their families and backed up by legaljudgment they secured in 2021, that there is a prospect that if the security forces on both sides of the irish border had pieced together intelligence they had in the run—up to the bombing in 0magh, maybe the attack could have been prevented. as for political reaction, we have already heard from the democratic unionist party and the democratic unionist party and the nationalist party, the sdlp, both of them welcoming the announcement by the government in london. alsojust had announcement by the government in london. also just had a statement read from the irish foreign

minister. as chris heaton harris said in his statements, thejudge who made the ruling 18 months ago, which has now led to the british government move to establish an inquiry. said that there should be an investigation carried out by the irish government. also it was not in his power to rule that the irish government should dojust his power to rule that the irish government should do just that. nonetheless the irish foreign minister has said that he will be consulting with his ministerial colleagues in dublin, including the ministerforjustice, to decide on their next steps. the cross—border element to all of this may well be important in that. the bomb was transported into 0magh from the other side of the irish border. this has been a long—running story, nearly a quarter of a century since the bomb exploded just yards from where i am standing now in the town

centre of 0magh on a saturday afternoon in august 1998. in terms of lives lost, their worst atrocity in terms of the history of the conflict in northern ireland. 0ne conflict in northern ireland. one woman was pregnant with twins. police forces on both sides of the border had been involved in investigations over the years, then nobody has been successfully prosecuted. that has, the family said, added to their sense of grief over the years. they are keen the whole truth about 0magh comes out. the families who are campaigning are keen for this inquiry that this is not seen to shift the blame away from the bombers who planted the explosive device in the centre of 0magh in summer. they say it will always be those dissident republicans in the real ira who were to blame for the loss of life and

the devastating effect on so many other families the devastating effect on so many otherfamilies here, more than the devastating effect on so many other families here, more than 200 people were injured in the bombing. while they say it is not about apportioning blame to the security forces, it is about learning lessons. according to michael gallagher, the dad of aidan gallagher, the dad of aidan gallagher, who died in the blast, he has led this campaign. like mr gallagher has said, a full inquiry establishing the whole truth, establishing the whole truth, establishing lessons to be land for future generations is the least that can be done to honour the memory of the people who died in 0magh. 0k. thank ou the people who died in 0magh. 0k. thank you very much. that is our correspondent in 0magh, chris page. a growing number of anti—iranians government protesters had been shot

in the eye. this report contains graphic images of injuries. he said to me, "go or i shoot you in the eye." mariam was intentionally shot in the face by revolutionary guards while she was protesting in tehran last october, a method used more and more by iranian forces wanting to put a stop to the protests. 0ne plainclothes agent appeared and began shooting at me with rubber bullets from about a metre and a half away. he shot me eight times. i fell down. the same officer pointed his shotgun back at me and shot me in the eye. bbc news identified dozens of victims all over iran who were intentionally targeted and lost their eye as a result. aydin is one of them. they pointed a laser at my head and fired birdshot from a 15—metre distance. six pellets ended up all over my body. these are the type of ammunition the revolutionary guards have been using to deter protesters.

according to the united nations human rights guidance on less lethal weapons, kinetic impact projectiles such as rubber bullets should not be targeted at the head, face and neck, and metal pellets, such as those fired from shotguns, should never be used. a doctor removed three at home, but i needed to go to a hospital for the rest, as one went through my eye and landed in my sinuses near my brain. but the hospital is not always a safe place for wounded protesters. someone had to flee from his hospital bed after being intentionally shot in the face by a rubber bullet. i had to escape from the hospital because two officers were after me. before going to the hospital, i didn't go home for 20 days and change places every night. saman has now left the country. he said he was shot by a plainclothes officer who recognised him and identified

him as a protester. as 50011 as he saw me he raised his paintball gun and shot rubber bullets at me. i lost my sight in my left eye permanently. i can't even see light. i also suffered injuries in my teeth and skull. due to inflammation of my brain veins i was an inch away from becoming brain dead. i saw similar cases in the hospital, people who were shot in the eyes, but with birdshot. they were 50, 60 metal pellets in their bodies and one to three pellets in their eyes. saman and others we spoke to all said that despite going blind, they see light at the end of the tunnel, and they will not give up. parham ghobadi, bbc news. the us has agreed to almost double its number of military bases in the philippines. the announcement was made by the american defence secretary lloyd austin, who's visiting manila. the deal, which was struck with the new government of president marcos, will see american forces permanently based at nine

sites in the philippines. the decision comes as china is seeking to increase its influence in the region but mr austin made no direct reference to that — take a listen. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes is in manila. and he gave us this analysis. this behind me here is camp aguinaldo. it's the headquarters of the philippine armed forces, and this is where the us secretary of defense, lloyd austin, came today to announce this agreement. what does it give the us? well, it gives the american military, for the first time really in three decades, serious access to a large number of military bases across the philippines. nine bases in all, but the most significant are in the north, facing the south china sea and facing taiwan. why is the philippines so significant? well, it's really about geographical location. if you look at the military alliances the us has in east asia, to the north, you have korea and japan and in the south you have australia. but here in southeast asia, the philippines really sits

in the most significant strategic position, next to the south china sea, close to taiwan. and that's why the americans have been pushing hard for this agreement to regain access for their troops. for the philippines, i think this agreement is an admission that they really can't handle the rise of china and china's territorial ambitions in the south china sea by themselves. manila has watched over the last decade as china has built these huge artificial islands and military bases very, very close to philippine territory, some inside the philippines own exclusive economic zone, and they've been able to do nothing about it. so, they hope that having the americans back here will make the chinese think twice about pushing further with the territorial expansion and control of the south china sea. so far, china's reaction has been relatively mute. it has essentially said this is the americans trying to trick the philippines into a trap and they're advising the philippines

against doing anything. out of selfish interests, the us has continuously strengthened military deployment in the region, which exacerbates regional tensions and endangers regional peace and stability. countries should remain vigilant against this and avoid being used by the united states. so that suggests that beijing wants to keep good relations with manila and won't retaliate, here, well, the marcos government is really walking this very fine tightrope, trying to keep good relations with china because it's economically important, while getting closer to america militarily, because it really needs that support and cannot handle the situation alone. there is a bit of sunshine out there today. the best of that in southern and eastern parts. for many other as and eastern parts. for many other as a cloudy story. some spots of

drizzle and mist and murk over the hills. the west of scotland and northern ireland seeing heavy rain. temperatures 11 to 13. turning windy, particularly in the north of the uk. especially gusty conditions overnight. this band of patchy rain sinking south before beginning its journey north—east again. the band of cloud and patchy rain will move north—east across scotland, affecting the north of england for a time. it will brighten up a little through the afternoon. northern ireland, wales, the midlands, the south of england seeing spells of sunshine. temperature 7 degrees in lerwick, 1a for whole. unseasonably mild. another mile day to come on saturday. 0n mild. another mile day to come on saturday. on sunday it will feel colder but much brighter.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the bank of england announces its interest rate increase from 3.5 to 4% — in a bid to tackle soaring prices. the uk government confims an independent statutory inquiry into the 1998 0magh bombing — the biggest single atrocity in northern ireland's troubles. the northern ireland secretary made a statement in the house of commons. the inquiry will focus on the grounds that the court held is given rise to plausible arguments that the bombing could have been prevented, and the inquiry will also need to take account of the findings of previous investigations to avoid duplication.