this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 7pm: the dup and sinn fein prepare to begin talks aimed at forming a new power—sharing government in northern ireland after the republicans celebrate a surge in support. the unionist majority in the assembly has been ended, and the notion of a permanent or perpetual unionist majority has been demolished. ba rack obama rejects claims by president trump that he authorised the tapping of phones at trump tower shortly before last year's election. concerns over the impact for 4,000 vauxhall workers in britain as a french car company reportedly reaches a deal to buy general motors‘ european operations. also in the next hour: thousands of people have been marching in london to demonstrate over nhs cuts. organisers described the event as a rallying call to save the health service before next week's budget. and two wins in two for leicester

under craig shakespeare — that's in sportsday at 7:30pm. good evening and welcome to bbc news. sinn fein are celebrating their best ever showing elections to the irish assembly. they have won 27 seats, just one behind the democratic irish unionists. sinn fein‘s president, gerry adams, said it was "a watershed election" and the end to a permanent unionist majority in northern ireland. the two parties now have three weeks to try to agree a new power—sharing coalition. sinn fein believe they have changed the political picture

in northern ireland. if this election was a battle in the long fight between unionism and nationalism, they are claiming victory. clearly the unionist majority in the assembly has been ended and the notion of a permanent or perpetual unionist majority has been demolished. the dup are still stormont‘s biggest party, but they can only watch as republican add to their sizeable lead from the last election just ten months ago. many voters were motivated by the harsh words of the campaign. at one stage the dup compared republicans to crocodiles. now they have bitten back. in order to go back into government sinn fein are calling for arlene foster to step aside as first minister while a public enquiry takes place into a financial scandal linked to a botched

green energy scheme. it is a demand that has angered mrs foster's party. now we have got to pick up the pieces after a brutal election and the party which has got most to be concerned about as to how to repair the damage is sinn fein. for so long the big beast of politics here, unionism is facing a fresh roarfrom nationalism. just months ago they seemed to be working together, but in unionist east belfast with the cs lewis square has been built in honour, there is a certain concern about what is emerging. our whole government system is not working for the people who need it. they are up there squabbling over very little to be honest. republicans are out again in force, so they are. we should get off our backsides and go and vote. 0nce hailed as the champion of unionism, this statue stands outside stormont.

today his political successors are on their guard and no one is sure if a deal to restore power—sharing is within their grasp. and chris joins us from belfast now. great news for sinn fein, but what does it mean for the dup? you have to put it into context. it is fair to put it into context. it is fair to the dup have not had a great collection but they remain the bigger party. but the wider context is not good for them. the last election was just last year, they we re election was just last year, they were returned with ten seats more than sinn fein. now that is down to just a single seats between the two parties. that has been a reduction in the number of assembly members, so in the number of assembly members, so it is not quite a reduction of nine seats, but nonetheless it is bad for them and puts them into a different position going into these big 0 se should. the dup would still have the right to be first minister,

they still hold a lot of strength. sinn fein as you can see feel very buoyed up by their result. and as a result we have two parties going in determined to hold their corners. the difficulty for everybody might be that there is a cementing of positions and that could make negotiations very hard. why is there this flagging up needing more time to the coalition? wife like this as a problem now? because three weeks is not a long time. and although these parties were working together in coalition and were talking about working for a shared future and doing a job of government here, just a matter of months ago and has become clear since the collapse of that government in january that really they were covering the cracks. they have deep divides over a lot of things. brexit, the irish language, education... the list goes on. and to get them back together

again after the harsh words that election, it will be tough. this has become personal as well as political. arlene foster's words of talking about republicans as crocodiles, if you feed them they will come back for more, if anything is fired up support for sinn fein. it got their voters out. and perhaps that was something of an own goal for unionists. but beyond that, sinn fein talking about arlene foster is having to step aside as first minister during these... sorry, after these the graduation is while the enquiry goes on into the botched energy scheme, that is also personal, and something that will be difficult for the dup to take. ultimately unionists have been wounded but they still have a certain rate of strength. that makes negotiations very hard and tough, and three weeks is a lot of time to try to get through all these difficulties. donald trump has accused the obama administration of orchestrating a plot to tap his phones, in the run up to last year's

presidential election. in a series of messages on twitter, president trump accused mr obama of personally authorising the alleged tapping, and compared it to the watergate scandal, but offered no evidence that it had taken place. 0ur washington correspondent laura bicker reports. there is a protocol between presidents, even across the political divide — a peaceful handover of power even when the pair do not get along. in a tirade of tweets donald trump has trashed this tradition. he accused barack obama of ordering a wire tap on his trump tower phone, not in one, but in four tweets. the last read: "how low has president obama on to attack my "phones during the very secret election process?" "this is nixon — watergate." what a contrast to his tone during this week's address to congress. this was not the pivot

to a different kind of president that many people thought. so were the trump towers phones tapped ? the conservative news organisation breitbart seems to think so, and it blames barack obama. but no president has the power to order a wiretap, only the fbi can do that, with a warrant from the court. president trump is now facing calls to produce proof of his claims. in the last hour, a spokesman for mr obama has responded to president trump's claims. he said: "neither president obama, nor any white house official ever ordered surveillance on any us citizen, adding any suggestion otherwise is simply false. 0ur correspondent laura bicker has the latest from a pro—trump rally in washington. when it comes to why he's making these claims,

earlier this week, the attorney—general, jeff sessions, had to stand aside from any investigation into those russia claims, because he himself is said to have misspoke during a hearing under oath, where he said that he did not meet with any russian officials. it turned out well, actually, he met with the russian ambassador to the us on two occasions. now, he said that he didn't meet them under his guise as — he met him in his guise as senator, rather than a campaign aide. to supporters, now that matters, but

his critics, they say this is a deflection away from the need to investigate the russia links fully. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are the broadcaster charlie wolf and the chief political commentator for the independent, john rentoul. malaysia says the north korean ambassador must leave the country in the next 48 hours. he criticised the investigation that is being carried out. the two nations have fallen out after pyongyang was accused of being behind the death of kim jong—nam — the estranged half brother of north korea's leader. the french carmaker which owns peugeot and citroen is reported to have reached an agreement to buy vauxhall from general motors. talk of a deal has raised

concerns about the future of vauxhall‘s two uk factories, at luton and ellesmere port, which employ more than 4,000 people. an official announcement is expected on monday. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. this vauxhall plant is one of the more efficient car making factories in the world. 66% of the vehicles made here are exported, may lead to europe. but the workers here may have new bosses from monday when it is likely the company that makes peugeot cars, psa, confirms it has bought vauxhall and 0pel. but with too many factories in europe and not enough demand, it says it is likely to have a look at which plants to keep open and that puts vauxhall under the microscope. it employs just under 2,000 staff at ellesmere. they make astras. it will affect a lot of jobs in the area in ellesmere port. there is nothing here is vauxhall close. it is really bad, mate.

its van making factory in luton employs 1,400 people. i am optimistic about the plant in luton, but the prospect of car manufacturing in uk will come down to the kind of deal we get out brexit. in all, vauxhall makes just under 200,000 cars a year. psa has the capacity to build more cars, it does not need these plants in britain and there are obstacles in the way with currency fluctuations and problems posed by brexit with freedom of movement of people and parts as well. the government says it is cautiously optimistic it will be able to limit the job losses as a result of this deal possibly by providing the kind of assurances it gave to nissan in sunderland. we do not know what those assurances are for sure, but there are quite a few british—based car makers who will be watching very carefully.

this week nissan said it now needs £100 million to support car manufacturing in the north east. bmw said it might make battery—powered mini cars in germany instead of britain and ford may be shedding more than 1,000 jobs in wales. the pressure will mount on theresa may to support the automotive sector at the very time she will be entering talks with the eu over brexit. 0ur correspondent megan paterson has been outside the vauxhall plant in ellesmere port throughout the day, where she's been gauging reaction to the reports from those who work there. you can see behind me through the wire fences rows and rows of brand—new vauxhall cars and vans and behind that a factory building. the people inside that building have been worried greatly by the news today. it is uncertainty for the future and what it means the jobs here, not just the next years but next decades. the concern is psa is a french company and 14% of it is owned by the french state,

and the worry here is that will mean jobs in france are protected, meaning a risk to those like here in ellesmere port and in luton. earlier we spoke to people in ellesmere port town centre, around ten minutes away. everyone was quick to say how crucial this employer is for the town and area. lots of people saying there isn't another industry here to plug the gaps ifjobs were to go. they had concern not just for those working in the building and theirfamilies, but also small businesses in the supply chain and the cafes and shops that rely on this site being busy. over the last few months politicians and union representatives have stepped up the campaign to get guarantees for the workers here and luton to get protection for them. it looks certain now that campaign will be stepped up over the next few days. we understand the jobs here would be protected

until 2020, but what happens after that is a massive uncertainty. clarity expected on monday with an announcement about the takeover, but negotiation expected to go on over the coming weeks to give people here reassurance about the future. thousands of people have taken part in a march and demonstration in london today to protest at cuts to nhs services. 0rganisers say theresa may's demands on austerity in the nhs represent a real risk to patients and safety. people travelled from across the country to attend the march. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn addressed the crowd. theresa may could not wait to get to the united states to discuss trade agreements with donald trump. i tell you this, we are going to block any trade agreement that gives a green light for us health care companies to come here and strip out and take

from our national health service. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has announced that he will visit moscow in the coming weeks, in an attempt to improve relations with russia. it will be the first such trip by a british minister for five years. talks will focus on british — russian relations, and disagreements over russia's actions in ukraine and syria. the foreign office said the trip did not signal a change in policy towards russia. with me is our political correspondent, elleanor garnier. russian relations on the schedule, what else will be discussed? there is quite a lot to talk about. it is a sign ofjust how bad the relationship is between the two countries this will be the first visit by a foreign secretary in five yea rs. visit by a foreign secretary in five years. the russian ambassador in london has said that dialogue between the two countries is

important, and certainly last few months it discourtesy there has been aof months it discourtesy there has been a of dialogue. we have had boris johnson accusing moscow of war crimes he has criticised cyber attacks as dirty tricks, cold protests outside the embassy in london and said they should be no lifting of eu sanctions over the ukraine. so there will be plenty to talk about. but i understand this will not be an attempt to reset the relationship. the foreign secretary will stay robust where the two countries have differences, but as you point out, it is a difficult collision chip and the result on way to go to improve it. why now? the announcement on this visit comes off the back of a foreign affairs select committee report this week which did say that the relationship between the two countries was at its most strained point since the end of the cold war. and i think it is the importance of this relationship,

throwing the new us president, his predictions about what kind of relationship you would like to have with russia, what we get from the prime minister and the foreign secretary is that it is better to engage them to ignore russia, and it is in britain's national interest to engage with russia.|j is in britain's national interest to engage with russia. i understand the policy has been described as engage but beware. what should be read into that? that is something both the foreign secretary and prime minister had said a number of times. just recently the foreign secretary said we do need to engage, but we are not silly and we are not resetting this relationship. we'll continue to be robust. but we do think that the only way to make progress is to be in the same room as the country. that is what we can take to mean by engage but beware. another point to that from the foreign affairs select committee report, they said that not engaging was not a long—term foreign

policy option for the uk. they said it might be uncomfortable, but in the end it might produce results, might clarify whether countries agree and disagree, especially on keyissues agree and disagree, especially on key issues like counterterrorism, and that they provide the basis for any progress in improving the relationship going forward. the headlines on bbc news: sinn fein have described the stormont assembly elections as a watershed after coming within one seat of drawing level with the democratic unionist party. a spokesman for barack obama says claims by president trump that his predecessor tapped his phone calls during last year's election campaign are simply false. there are fears for the future of vauxhall plants in britain after a french car company which produces usual vehicles reaches deal buy general motors' european operations. the united nations estimates that

over the past seven days, 15,000 children have been forced out of the iraqi city of mosul, where a mass exodus of civilians is happening. iraqi government forces are pressing into the western side of the city, but are facing fierce resistance from so—called islamic state. the un says it has seen a significant increase in displacement in recent days. as david campanale now reports, the hamam al alil refugee camp is approaching maximum capacity. the desperate escape from fierce fighting in western mosul. an endless stream of thousands of people. these residents of iraq's second city have nothing on their feet. and un aid coordinators say they've escaped with nothing, no luggage and the bare minimum of clothes. inside the city, islamic state are using car bombs, suicide attackers and snipers

to resist the iraqi army's advance. as battles rage in these residential areas, civilians are being forced out from their homes. but as they run, they must first evade the merciless tactics of islamic state fighters, who openly admit residents are useful to them as human shields. translation: we fled at night. families which are caught fleeing are beaten, the men executed and women are sent back home. we hardly managed to escape. iraqi government forces, backed by western allies, are making headway against the islamists, and are advancing north of a sprawling military base near the city's airport. but mosul has 750,000 inhabitants. those displaced by the fighting have to endure wet conditions as they wait for the military to organise buses or trucks near a checkpoint to the south of the city. translation: the number of people who have arrived at this

point is around 1,000, including women, men and children. they're in a desperate condition. they're malnourished and in a dire need of water and food. they're in a very miserable condition and they need medical and health care. the camp intended for internally displaced people is now close to its maximum capacity, with 150,000 places already occupied. agencies are already calling the battle for mosul the worst humanitarian crisis they've seen globally in a decade, but they're expecting it may be about to get a lot worse, with is fighting to hold on to last foothold in iraq. construction is under way, the united nations says, to accommodate up to 250,000 people in just this one camp. the prime minister of somalia, hassan ali khaire, says one hundred

and ten people have died from hunger in the past forty—eight hours in a single region, amid a severe drought that is threatening the lives of millions of people across the country. somalia is one of four countries the united nations says is on the brink of famine. stephen o'brien, the un's under—secretary—general and emergency relief coordinator, is in south sudan — he explained some of the challenges aid workers are facing there. what we need from the local government, i have had discussions already today with the prime minister, is access. access when you have terrible security conditions means that if the aid workers, and 71 aid workers have died here really delivering aid, they need to be able to get through to deliver and will need the protection of civilians. on the line is fay hoyland, from the charity save the children, who is in burao, in somaliland.

the situation here is desperate. people are going without food and water for days. we are having problems with the line, but we will carry on. you described a desperate situation, problems with water. we understand there is a conflict also going on. is this exacerbating the environmental conditions? that is unfortunate. it sounds as if we have lost her there. we apologise. we were hoping to get the latest update from the situation in somaliland. hopefully we will return to that later in the programme. four men have been arrested in connection with the escape of a convicted murderer in liverpool. the arrests in the hunt

for shaun walmsley were made in poole in dorset on friday. walmsley went on the run last month when two armed men confronted prison officers who were guarding him at aintree university hospital. police say none of those arrested were the escaped murderer. dan johnson has been following developments. there were armed police on the street with guns, we'll come back to that report later. in the meantime... mercedes is recalling 75,000 cars in the uk because they're at risk of catching fire. they are among 1 million cars affected worldwide, after 51 fires were reported. the company says the risk is small and that nobody has been injured. many mercedes models built between 2015 and 2017 could be affected. a school in california has struck gold after snapchat‘s debut

on the new york stock exchange this week. five years ago the school invested 15,000 dollars into the app and now those shares are worth more than $40 million. as dave lee reports, the school has a unique fund that invests in silicon valley start—ups. in the case of snap chat, part of their first investment came from a much more unusual source. this high school is in mountain view, small city in northern california, best known as the home of google. five yea rs known as the home of google. five years ago the school made a very shrewd investment banks to the advice of a student's father. his daughter who was honoured with her friends on their phones in the kitchen, and he was trying to figure out what they were doing, and she said, there is this thing cold snap chat, so we were able to make this

$15,000 investment. when tensai two began trading this week, the school sold to third of its day, cashing in $24 million. and there is more good news. if the school was to sell its remaining allocation, that would be an extra $19 million. saint francis isa an extra $19 million. saint francis is a private school where tuition costs $17,000 per year. a lot of the money raised will go towards offering scholarships to less well—off families in the area. barry eggers is the parent first took the idea of investing in snapchat to the school. he is a partner in one of silicon valley's top investment firms. the adults didn't know about it, but the kids are using it, and they happen to be early adopters. other schools might think, we should start investing in technology companies as well. can this be united around the world? companies as well. can this be united around the world7m united around the world? it can, but it is not easy. in silicon valley

especially, other areas with a lot of entrepreneurs, it is great for investors to reach out to local institutions and schools and see if they can include them in some of their deals. something that the popularity of snapchat will be short lived and its value will come crashing down. at saint francis the. plan to wait and they are allowed to sell the remaining shares, they say they probably will. this is an amazing investment and is paying off any transformational way for us. emboldens us to work hard to make sure that we take care of it and do right diet and make sure that we use it. we're here to educate kids and happy we have this opportunity. now let's get the weather. for some of us and was a glorious day. it has

been a day of contrasts, you're quite right. if you have had the sunshine today, it is highly likely you will not get it tomorrow. most of the heavy rain has moved out of northern ireland and in pushing through scotland today we have seen 01’ through scotland today we have seen oran inch of through scotland today we have seen or an inch of rain fall in aberdeenshire, and then scattered showers piling in behind producing some beautiful pictures. i suspect we'll see plenty more of these tomorrow, were sunny spells and scattered showers forecast tomorrow. but the low pressure will gradually drift through the northern isles. will be replaced by this front, producing gale—force gusts of wind. perhaps a header that will see some clear skies and a chilly start. but the clear air will not last as the wet and windy weather pushes its way across england and wales during the morning between the hours of 9am and midday it will be wet and windy. further north it is a different

story, a contrasting day in comparison to today. there is the rain still across the northern isles but elsewhere sunny spells and scattered showers. the showers fairly isolated. not a bad start in northern ireland, some lovely sunshine coming through, and the best of the weather will be in cumbria through the day. the cloud and rain will suit with a midlands into the south—east of the england, behind a trail of showers being driven along by the strong south—west winds as we go through the morning. and blustery affair, and through the afternoon despite the rain easing will be plenty of showers. some merging into longer spells of rain. if you're unlucky to get caught in those it could be quite nasty but look at the contrast further north. northern ireland, england and scotland, you get this lion's share of the sunshine. 7—8 celsius in the north, higher temperatures in the south.