23/02/2014 Reporting Scotland

Good evening. Victims of hate crime are being urged to come forward and

report incidents as part of a Scottish Government led campaign.

Those behind 'Speak Up Against Hate Crime say highlighting the problem

sends out a clear message. It was here, in the heart of Scotland 's

largest city that a BBC documentary team filmed racist abuse of a

busker. That highlighted one example of the kind of hate crime in new

campaign is aiming to tackle. It is encouraging anyone who has been

targeted on the grounds of race, sexuality, disability or gender and

reported to police. The campaign is being led by the Scottish Cup meant

and has wider support. At the moment, we know that people do not

feel 100% confident in reporting to the police for all sorts of reasons.

We will be sending out a powerful signal that Scotland will not

tolerate this kind of hate crime. Police in Scotland are working at a

national and international level. Those behind this new campaign argue

that by coming forward, witnesses and those who have been targeted

will help prevent abuse. . Football... And Scotland have been

handed a tough draw for the 2016 European Championship qualifiers. It

was here this afternoon that Scotland learned the identity of the

Euro 2016 qualification opponents. Germany are the top seeds and will

be the clear favourites to top the section. Plenty more intrigue in the

group. The Republic of Ireland manager is none other than the man

who preceded Gordon Strachan Celtic boss, Martin O'Neill. Scotland play

the polls in a friendly. After the draw, I caught up with Gordon

Strachan and asked him to his feelings on the group. Excited. That

is the one thing you can say about this group. Others might be a bit

mundane. This one, where you have one of the best team ever, the

German side, a new nation in the tournament in Gibraltar then you

have four other teams who are all possible to get the second place.

That is exciting. Exciting indeed. The top two in the group qualify

automatically. Third place might be good enough. That gives Scotland

their best chance in a long time of reaching a major tournament for the

first time since 1998. That was in the World Cup here in France. The

closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics is well under way. But

there's one Scot who's still taking centre stage, even though he has no

chance of a medal. Jackie O'Brien reports from Sochi. Ladies and

gentlemen, the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

The broadcaster was lost for words when he was selected from hundreds

of contenders to be the English-speaking voice of the Winter

Olympics opening and closing ceremonies in Sochi. Introducing

President Putin to a global audience was one of the most daunting moment

of his career so far. It provided an experience he is not likely to

forget. I was moved by it. I was choked by it. I thought, this is a

global spectacle of an incredible degree and I am part of it. It was

an exciting moment. Add to that, we would press the buttons on the mics

and we'll be talking to a global audience of 2.5 billion people. Or

somebody like me, that is a great thrill. Ladies and gentlemen, the

worldwide broadcast... The Scottish accent was chosen because it was

considered to be the listener friendly. Along with his Russian and

French speaking announcers, he had to keep his role at the Olympics are

closely guarded secret until the lavish proceedings started. It came

out on the night. Suddenly there was a litany of people asking on

Facebook, did I hear you? Was that you? It was a big surprise for a

lotta people. It has been quite that way since. I am sure I heard you on

the Olympics. Yes, guilty your honour! The Scottish broadcaster

return for his final performance on the Olympic stage, bringing the most

expensive Winter Games in history to a close.

It was wet and windy for many of us today. The strongest winds will ease

tonight but the heavy rain has not finished with us. It will return to

central and southern Scotland. Difficult conditions on the roads

and potentially some flooding. Ultimately, the strongest winds will

become confined to the far north. Temperature wise, around five

Celsius for many. May be low enough for a touch of ground frost. Into

tomorrow, the weather front bringing that rain will pull away. It is a

cloudy start with outbreaks of showery rain which will clear away

eastwards. There will be good spells of sunshine. Much lighter winds than

today. That is the forecast. And that's Reporting Scotland.

Hello. Still no sign of the weather really settling down next week.

There should be an improvement for most of us tomorrow. It will not be

as windy as it has been today, and the band of rain will slowly peter

out. We still have some rain to come through the night. This band of rain

is quite slow