hello, i'm samantha simmonds. 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 syrian observatory for human rights says at least 18 people were killed there. the us strikes in syria and iraq were in response to a drone attack on a us military base last weekend, in which three soldiers were killed. 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 b—1 bombers taking off to carry out the 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. shashankjoshi, defence editor at the economist, told me whether the strikes would prove to be a deterrant to iran—backed militias.

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, 160 times at american forces over three months, you run the risk of killing americans. but i think they realise they perhaps 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, they're 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. live now to our correspondent in baghdad. welcome, bashir. what is the reaction from the iraqi

government to the strikes in their country? it government to the strikes in their count ? . , . government to the strikes in their count ? ., ., , ., government to the strikes in their count ? ., , ., , ., country? it was a strong statement issued by the — country? it was a strong statement issued by the iraqi _ country? it was a strong statement issued by the iraqi government - issued by the iraqi government earlier today, describing the us air strikes as an aggression against iraq and also a serious violation of iraq and also a serious violation of iraq sovereignty. it was also referring to this air strike by the us air forces, referring to this air strike by the us airforces, as referring to this air strike by the us air forces, as destabilising the security and stability of the region, and also the stability of iraq itself. the iraq government said that now the coalition, the international coalition�*s presence international coalition�*s presence in iraq is now deviating from its main task and that could bring momentum to the table of negotiations already taking place between the iraqi government and the

coalition, the international coalition, the international coalition, to end its presence in iraq. and also the iraq government now under huge pressure by the multiple iraqi factions, whether inside or outside parliament, in order to find a way or an exit. for the international coalition to end its presence in iraq, which is a big demand for those factions. what its presence in iraq, which is a big demand for those factions. what do we know of — demand for those factions. what do we know of the _ demand for those factions. what do we know of the scale _ demand for those factions. what do we know of the scale of _ demand for those factions. what do we know of the scale of damage - we know of the scale of damage caused by those us strikes and the possibility of retaliatory action from those militia groups there? the --oular from those militia groups there? tue: popular mobilisation, from those militia groups there? tt;e: popular mobilisation, part from those militia groups there? tt9 popular mobilisation, part of the aki security forces, they —— iraqi security forces. they issued a statement saying locations were

targeted by us air strikes, on the border with syria. they included what they call logistical warehouses and one of them, they have said is a medical unit for the popular mobilisation forces. and they were stating the size and scale of casualties, it varied from one killed 22, tip three, but all in all, it led to this announcement from the iraqi government of 16 people killed, including civilians. as for the retaliation is, nothing from those armed factions, but one of those leaders, under the so—called islamic presence in iraq, referred to baghdad and kuwait as the basis for this and imply there could be a response to the source of

fires, as he put it in his statement, should they not stop these air strikes against the locations of those armed factions. thank you. in the next few hours, northern ireland is expected to have its first irish nationalist leader since it was formed over a century ago. michelle o'neill is due to become first minister of the devolved government. her party, sinn fein, hopes to one day 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 wants the province to remain part of the united kingdom, walked out in protest at post—brexit trading arrangements. my my colleague is in stormont, where all the action is happening in the coming hours. over to you, lewis. yes, just in the last couple of minutes we have seen the president

of sinn fein here talking about this as a red letter day, because of course sinn fein taking up the post of first ministerfor the course sinn fein taking up the post of first minister for the first time in the history of this place in its current form. so no doubt the symbolism is important, no doubt the significance of the day. let me just show you around quickly to see where it is all going to happen. this is inside stormont, that is the front door where members of the public and media are allowed and are here. this is the great hall, seems you may recognise. we are just at the back of it, and this is where the media will be, those steps are familiar to many because that is where lots of people come down when they want to speak to the media. as for the actual business today, power—sharing returning after two years our politicians being away, that will happen through those brown double doors behind that pillar there, the

main chamber, and that is not long now. 49 minutes also are when proceedings are due to start. they elect a speaker and then those nominations for those crucial leadership roles whether symbolic historical firsts will take place. once all of that is done, it is about the politicians serving the people outside this building. about the politicians doing anything for the politicians doing anything for the past two years, there is a lot to get done and business is one area that has been impacted. we will pick through that. stuart anderson from the northern ireland chamber of commerce, thank you forjoining us. what has been the impact in your eyes on business of two years of no politicians here and basicallyjust civil servants holding the fort? t civil servants holding the fort? i think the first thing we want to say on the half of businesses we represent is we are really pleased to see institutions back up and running. we have been looking for

this over the past two years and as well as that, we note the injuries of all of the departments that are going to start work on monday morning off all and there is an awful lot of work to be done across those areas, but we need to place on record our thanks to the head of the civil servants for their work with the political parties and ourselves through that process. it is not a day of celebration for so many, we have over 500,000 on a waiting list and that impacts on the labour market and business community. because we have a tight labour market and so one in four being on a waiting list has obvious impact on the workforce. and there is the investment proposition of northern ireland. 2023 and the anniversary of the good friday agreement was a year that the world look at northern ireland is a place to invest. the missing piece was the government so many were looking for. what missing piece was the government so many were looking for.— many were looking for. what would ou like to many were looking for. what would you like to see _ many were looking for. what would you like to see now _ many were looking for. what would you like to see now as _ many were looking for. what would you like to see now as a _ many were looking for. what would you like to see now as a priority - you like to see now as a priority with politicians back to work next

week for that investment? the first ste- week for that investment? the first ste is step is getting institutions restored and then the restoration of public services. we have had lots of strikes to deal with an public—sector pay is the first thing that must be dealt with. we have also been without a programme for government for ten years so a number of challenges that must be dealt with, so we need the mandatory coalition to work together on those priorities. as a business community, it is looking at skills, competitiveness proposition fat northern ireland and then planning and childcare. we are the only part of this island that does not have a childcare strategy. we have been looking at this and we are up for the challenge ahead. fascinating oint the challenge ahead. fascinating point there _ the challenge ahead. fascinating point there about _ the challenge ahead. fascinating point there about businesses, i the challenge ahead. fascinating point there about businesses, it| the challenge ahead. fascinating. point there about businesses, it is not a silo, not isolated, all areas of public policy are connected and thatis of public policy are connected and that is what the symbolism, that is what the politicians will have to grapple with over the weeks and months ahead. and 0.

the former pakistani prime minister imran khan and his wife bushra bibi have been sentenced to seven years in prison after a court declared their marriage illegal. the court was set up inside the adiala jail where imran khan is already serving his sentences in other cases, the court also imposed a fine of half a million pakistani rupees — £1420 - on each of them. the verdict stated that their marriage was un—islamic and illegal. this comes in a week when imran khan has already received two otherjail sentences. bring us up—to—date on what has happened and why. yes. sentences. bring us up-to-date on what has happened and why. yes, five da s and what has happened and why. yes, five days and three — what has happened and why. yes, five days and three different _ what has happened and why. yes, five days and three different prison - days and three different prison sentences. in this case, this is

about bushra bibi's former husband. he said that there was not enough time between his marriage to bushra bibi and her marriage to imran khan. imran khan and bushra bibi's marriage was found to be illegal and un—islamic and they were sentenced to seven years in prison and this fine. the pti, imran khan's party, have already been talking about this and labelling it, as well as the other cases against him, as politically motivated and the idea is to keep him behind bars. the background to this is there is an election imminent. his supporters say the establishment here are doing what they can to try to discredit imran khan before those election so people who are coming to vote for

candidates that his party back, because they cannot vote for him, he is disqualified, but they will not come out because they will feel disenchanted the entire process. they say that is what will happen. particularly about this particular case, it is being perceived as a way to try to get into mr khan's site and damage some of his religious credentials. that is something that imran khan has been using when campaigning as a politician, he had a religious reawakening. he often describes bushra bibi as being his spiritual leader, she is a mystic, a mystical form spiritual leader, she is a mystic, a mysticalform of islam. that spiritual leader, she is a mystic, a mystical form of islam. that is part of the backdrop. the authorities on the other side completely deny they are doing anything to try to repress imran khan and say these are legitimate cases against him. so we have this real tension in the build—up to the general election here in pakistan injust a few build—up to the general election here in pakistan in just a few days' time. here in pakistan in 'ust a few days' time. : :, , :,: :, :,

time. and now he is facing more than a decade behind _ time. and now he is facing more than a decade behind bars. _ time. and now he is facing more than a decade behind bars. what- time. and now he is facing more than a decade behind bars. what now - time. and now he is facing more than a decade behind bars. what now for l a decade behind bars. what now for any legal process and any appeals, do you think? the any legal process and any appeals, do you think?— do you think? the big question is whether or _ do you think? the big question is whether or not _ do you think? the big question is whether or not these _ do you think? the big question is whether or not these appeals - do you think? the big question is whether or not these appeals can start to process their way through the courts before the general election. his party has been adamant that they are intending to appeal them but it looks unlikely we will have any relief or imran khan on these cases, particularly as they keep building, before that general election. that is the focus on his party at the moment, to encourage people to come out and vote. in terms of the very long—term prospect of whether they will be able to get some form of relief, whether their appeals will go through, we do not know. the big question is whether or not all of this will have made all those voters feel there is no point in coming back out, or if they are going to ratchet this attention on imran khan on what they say is the oppression of imran khan and their party and ten that instead into an

influx of voters, out to the polls. it is difficult to know whether they have captured that narrative or not and whether people will feel it is worth and going out to vote. that is the key question for imran khan's supporters. police say the suspect in a corrosive—substance attack on a mother and her daughters in south london was last seen at the king's cross underground station. abdul shokoor ezedi was seen boarding a victoria line train heading southbound at 9pm on wednesday. detectives released new images of the suspect inside the station about 90 minutes after the attack. the woman, who's 31, remains "very poorly" with expected life—changing injuries. our reporter graham satchell has more. 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. protests against germany's far—right afd party are taking place for the third weekend in a row. the demonstrations are in reaction to a recent meeting of extremists attended by afd members, where plans to deport people with non—german backgrounds were discussed. since the demonstrations began, the party has slipped in the polls to just under 20%. but afd remains germany's second most popular party. afd leaders say they are being targeted by the german state in the same way that political freedom fighters were repressed in communist east germany. let's go now to our germany correspondent damien mcguinness,

who is live in berlin. welcome. tell is more about these protests and why people are out on the streets against this party. yes. the streets against this party. yes, interestingly _ the streets against this party. yes, interestingly every _ the streets against this party. yes, interestingly every week _ the streets against this party. t9: interestingly every week at the protests get bigger and bigger. this could be the biggest yet. people are streaming in from crowds, to the german parliament building, the reichstag, just over there, and the plan is they will hold hands and form human chain around parliament building. it is a simple, really, how ordinary people say they want to protect democracy from the afd, which many describe as an anti—democratic party. that is the huge debate across germany. because courts and judges have officially defined some party leaders and members of the party as fascist and anti—democratic. now there is a huge debate here about whether the party should be banned and what it means for german democracy as a whole.

what impact are these likely to have, do you think? that what impact are these likely to have, do you think?— what impact are these likely to have, do you think? that is an open ruestion have, do you think? that is an open question because _ have, do you think? that is an open question because the _ have, do you think? that is an open i question because the demonstrations we are seeing across the country in small towns, large towns, cities are really large. this is unprecedented and feels like a grassroots movement, also to ngos from church leaders, anti—right—wing ngos, like grannies against the far right, but the impact going forward will be interesting because we have key elections in eastern germany. at the moment, in the regions we will have elections in the autumn, the afd is set to be the strongest party and could win the most votes. whether these protests will impact that support is a good question because it is really highlighting what many say the dangers are of this fact party as to how minorities are treated, but afd leaders are saying

they are being victimised and think this will pay into the narrative of victimisation and galvanise support. so we might see supporters for the afd and we could see supporters more fervently in favour of the party. given germany's history, what you think explains the rise and success of this party? it is think explains the rise and success of this party?— of this party? it is all about german history, _ of this party? it is all about german history, so - of this party? it is all about| german history, so whether of this party? it is all about i german history, so whether it of this party? it is all about - german history, so whether it is that people today, the signs i am seeing in these demonstrations, people saying never again is now, we do not want 1933 again, we do not need another hitler. the afd, they are also about history. what afd leaders openly say is we have had enough of this idea of german guilt. they have atoned for their past and they want to rewrite or at least reassess germany's past. because

what we have seen in germany since 1945 is this idea, and acceptance of the guilt for the holocaust and nazi war crimes, and part of the afd wants to reassess that and that is wider so controversial and you are seeing so many people at mass demonstrations like this and it does not seem to be stopping, these demonstrations appear for now to be growing every weekend. bank demonstrations appear for now to be growing every weekend.— a team of scientists and engineers has landed in antarctica to test a new drone that will help experts forecast the impact of climate change. the device will enable researchers to access parts of the continent that were previously out of bounds due to the harsh weather conditions. stay with us here on bbc news. we will have plenty more live from northern ireland as the stormont assembly restarts again after two

years where the devolved government has not been functioning. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. a bit of sunshine around 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 has been a bit of a north—south split, the 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, though further north in england you'll stay you'll stay drier 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 in 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. cloudy conditions dominating. 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 on what it says were militias linked to iran. the us also attacked targets in syria. the strikes are retaliation for a drone attack last week on a us military base injordan, which killed three soldiers. joe biden warns, "if you harm an american, we will respond." northern ireland's devolved government returns after two years today. sinn fein�*s michelle o'neill will make history becoming stormont�*s first irish nationalist leader. the hunt continues for a man suspected of a corrosive substance attack on a mother and her daughters in south london.

three people have been injured in a knife attack in paris at the railway station. police say a man has been arrested. welcome to stormont. we have live continuous coverage of historic symbolic events here. write as i speak, wejust saw historic symbolic events here. write as i speak, we just saw a historic symbolic events here. write as i speak, wejust saw a group of people walking down the stairs. i'm just going to bring in our political analysts. brian, talk us through what we are seeing. this analysts. brian, talk us through what we are seeing.— what we are seeing. this is the sdlp. what we are seeing. this is the sdlp- led _ what we are seeing. this is the sdlp- led by — what we are seeing. this is the sdlp. led by the _ what we are seeing. this is the sdlp. led by the storm - what we are seeing. this is the sdlp. led by the storm on - what we are seeing. this is the . sdlp. led by the storm on leader. when the government is re—established, they will be the opposition. re-established, they will be the opposition-— re-established, they will be the ouosition. �*, :, , opposition. let's take a listening. there is an _ opposition. let's take a listening. there is an awful— opposition. let's take a listening. there is an awful lot _ opposition. let's take a listening. there is an awful lot of _ opposition. let's take a listening. there is an awful lot of people . opposition. let's take a listening. l there is an awful lot of people here today _ there is an awful lot of people here today is _

there is an awful lot of people here today. is something happening? hello. _ today. is something happening? hello, everybody. great