this is bbc news. the headlines: the dup and sinn fein prepare to begin talks aimed at forming a new power—sharing government in northern ireland after the republicans claim a watershed moment. 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 in fatal distraction at 830,

a schoolteacher comes face to face with the driver responsible for her boyfriend's death. good evening and welcome to bbc news. sinn fein are celebrating their best ever showing in elections to the northern ireland 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. from belfast, chris buckler reports. 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 republicans ate into 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've 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 inquiry 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 where the cs lewis square has been built in honour of the author, there is a certain concern about what is emerging. our whole government system is not working for the people who need it. because 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 out and vote. 0nce hailed as a 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. chris told me more about what we could expect in the light of the changed situation the dup now finds itself in. it is fair to the dup have not had a great collection but they remain the biggest party. but the wider context is not good for them. the last election was just last year, and they were returned with ten seats more than sinn fein. now that is down to just a single seat between the two parties. that has been a reduction in the number of assembly members, from 108 to 90, 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 talks. 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 of needing more time to form the coalition? why is this 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. it has become clear since the collapse of that government injanuary 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 on. and to get them back together

again after the harsh words of 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", she said. if anything it 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 as having to step aside as first minister during these... sorry, after these these talks while the inquiry 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 amount 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. chris buckler there.

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 guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster charlie wolf and the chief political commentator for the independent, john rentoul. 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 actually 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:

what a contrast to his tone during this week's address to congress. it appears this was not the pivot to a different kind of president that many people thought. so were the trump towers phones tapped 7 the conservative news organisation breitbart seems to think so, and it blames barack obama. did this article started the twitter cascade? but no president has the power to order a wiretap, only the fbi can do that, with a warrant from court. president trump is now facing calls to produce proof of his claims. well, earlier tonight a spokesman for mr obama responded to president trump's claims. he said: we can speak to laura. this started

very early in the morning on twitter and there have been protests in support of donald trump. does he need to have support public be shown at this time? he will feel it is necessary. there are rallies being held up and down the country in response to the protests that are being held and people on both sides, who feel that donald trump, one side feels he's not doing a good job, and the other side are looking for him and pushing for him keep going. and do what he promised. when it comes to his call on unity. that seems to have gone by the wayside. this is a president who has been tweeting

about his predecessor, accusing him of wiretapping, could this claim be true? no president can order the wiretapping of a phone and you have heard from president obama. he said it is not something that came from the white house. did the fbi do this? there have been media reports that suggest the fbi was looking for a warrant to do just that last summer a warrant to do just that last summer in the presidential election, as they were investigating claims between links between donald trump campaign aides and russians. according to media reports, the initial request for a wiretapping was turned down and then later in 0ctober it was accepted. these are media reports and none of it has been confirmed. none of it has ever been confirmed. none of it has ever been denied. but when it comes to president trump tweeting, is he saying these reports are true? is he claiming that the fbi did tap his

phones? in which case, it confirms to the media something they have suspected which there is an ongoing investigation into whether or not his campaign team had links with russian intelligence, which is something the fbi has not yet confirmed. also when it comes to president trump, he has the information. he is able to ask if the fbi tapped his phone. is he saying that is what he has done? does he need to produce evidence? these raise more questions than they answer. laura, thanks forjoining us. malaysia says the north korean ambassador must leave the country in the next 48 hours, after he criticised its investigation into the killing of the north korean leader's half—brother. kim jong—nam, the half—brother of kimjong—un, died three weeks ago at kuala lumpur airport. the malaysian government demanded an apology after the envoy said north korea could not trust its handling of the probe,

but says it did not receive one. 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, mostly 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, psa 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. the whole plant is really worried. it will affect a lot of jobs in the area in ellesmere port. there is nothing here if vauxhall goes. it's really bad, mate. its van making factory in luton employs 1,400 people. i'm 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 of brexit. in all, vauxhall makes just under 200,000 cars a year. psa has the capacity to build more cars in its own plants. 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. only this week nissan said it now needs £100 million to support car manufacturing in the north east. bmw said it might make battery—powered minis in germany instead of britain and ford may be shedding more than 1,000 jobs in wales. so 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 forjobs here, not just for the next few years but the 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 here in ellesmere port and in luton. earlier we spoke to people in ellesmere port town centre, around ten minutes away from here. everyone was quick to say how crucial this employer is for the town and local area. lots of people saying there isn't another industry here to plug the gaps ifjobs were to go here. they had concern not just for those working in the building and theirfamilies, but also for 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 in luton to get protection for them. it looks certain now that 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. some clarity expected on monday with an announcement about the takeover, but much negotiation expected to go on over the coming weeks to give people here some reassurance about the future. the headlines on bbc news: sinn fein 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 unionist party. a spokesman for ba rack obama says unionist party. a spokesman for barack obama says claims by president trump that his predecessor tapped his phone calls during last yea r‘s tapped his phone calls during last year's action campaign is simple false. there are fears that the future of vauxhall plants in britain after a french car company which

produces peugeot vehicles reportedly reaches a deal to buy general motors european operations. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. a very good evening. liverpool have moved up to third in the premier league, with a 3—1victory over arsenal at anfield. firmino and mane gave liverpool a 2—0 lead, before danny welbeck pulled one back. wijnaldum then popped up a minute into injury time to ensure jurgen klopp‘s side took all three points. a lot of focus will be on arsene wenger‘s decision to leave alexi sanchez on the bench — he said it was tactical. i'm strong enough to analyse the impactandi i'm strong enough to analyse the impact and i don't deny that alexis sanchezis impact and i don't deny that alexis sanchez is a great player. i bought him andi sanchez is a great player. i bought him and i have always played him and

i think he has done very well for us, but the decision like that is not easy to make. but you have to stand up for it. one of the best games we have played so far because of the strength in the line—up of the opponent, we all know what we did in the last week and how we played. it's really not usual or whatever that you come back like this, so we know we have to work and we will work, but today everyone can enjoy this game and this result. ten man bournemouth held on to draw 1—1 with manchester united in the day's early game. zlatan ibrahimovic missed a penalty late in the second half, that would have seen them win all three points. manchester united remain sixth. ibrahimovic and tyrone mings could be in trouble retrospectively though. mings appeared to land his studs

on the back of the head of the united forward as he lay on the ground, and then from a corner, ibrahimovic elbowed mings. but both played it down post match. and all eyes on leicester to see if they could continue their remarkable comeback. a resounding yes — they won 3—1 again with mahrez getting on the scoresheet. they're now 15th. here are the day's other results in the premier league. middlesbrough are in the relegation zone after losing at stoke. a late goal gave swansea an important win over burnley. a high scoring game at watford ended 4—3 to southampton and crystal palace won their first game since january at stoke. so here is the top of the table. tottenham and man city both playing tomorrow. and if we look at the bottom half. west ham, burnley, watford all drop a place. crystal palace are now out of the relegation zone, replaced by middlesbrough.

sunderland play tomorrow. in scotland, rangers are through to the semi—finals of the scottish cup. a hat—trick from joe garner helped them beat hamilton academical 6-0. in the day's other cup quarter final — hibs beat ayr 3—1, and in the premiership kilmarnock lost at home to motherwell 2—1. laura muir has won gold in the 1500m at the european indoor athletics championships in belgrade. it's the 23 year old's first major senior title, and she did it in a new british & championship record time. muir dominated the race & led from the start — fellow briton sarah mcdonald could only finish in sixth place. muirwill be aiming for double gold as she goes in the 3,000m final tomorrow. britain has also just picked up another gold. richard kielty has won the 60metres title. andy murray has chalked up his first tournament win of the year at the dubai championships.

after a shaky start, the world number one saw off fernando verdasco in straight sets — it's the first time he's won this tournament, and means he extends his lead over novak djokovic at the top of the world rankings. that is all these sports are now. but we have commentary on the radio of david haye against tony bellew —— thatis of david haye against tony bellew —— that is all of the sport for now. studio: thanks for joining that is all of the sport for now. studio: thanks forjoining us. somalia is one of four countries the united nations says is on the brink offamine. united nations says is on the brink of famine. the united nations undersecretary general and emergency relief coordinator is in south sedan and he explains the challenges aid workers are facing. —— sedan. and he explains the challenges aid workers are facing. -- sedan. what we need from the local government, and i've had discussions with the prime minister, we need access. access when you have terrible security conditions over the country means that aid workers, one worker

has died here, bravely delivering aid. they need to be able to get to deliver and we need the protection of civilians. thousands of people have taken part in a march and demonstration in london today to protest at cuts to nhs services. organisers 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 ministerforfive 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. i've been getting more details from our political correspondent eleanor garnier. i think it is a sign ofjust how bad the relationship is between the two countries that this will be the first 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 in the last few months there has been dialogue. we have had borisjohnson accusing moscow of war crimes, he has criticised cyber attacks as dirty tricks, called for protests outside

the embassy in london and said there 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 relationship. there is a way to go to improve it. so, why now? the announcement of 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. i understand the policy has been described as engage but beware. what should we read into that? that is something both the foreign secretary and prime minister have said a number of times. just recently the foreign secretary said we do need to engage with russia, 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, yes, it might be uncomfortable, but in the end it might produce results,

where the countries 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 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. 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. and now we have the weather

forecast. if you have managed to dodge the rain today, the chances are you won't tomorrow. it is going to be replaced in the south west through the night with heavy rain and squally gusts of wind touching gale force on exposed coasts, that's a sign of what is to come as we go through the early half of sunday. we start with maybe a touch of light frost under a bit clearer skies, but it won't be long before wet and windy weather pushes in from the south west and transfers further north and east. the best of the weather in the far north of england and scotland and northern ireland, sunny spells and scattered showers, temperatures around 7—10. chances of heavy rain in the south—west first thing on sunday and then we see sunny spells and scattered showers taking overfor sunny spells and scattered showers taking over for most of people on monday, the bust of the sunshine is likely to be again in scotland. —— the best. take care. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 8.30pm. sinn fein describe the stormont assembly elections as a watershed after coming within one seat of drawing level with the democratic unionist party. the unionist majority in the assembly has been ended. and the notion of a permanent or perpetual unionist majority has been demolished. 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 peugeot vehicles — reportedly reaches a deal to buy general motors' european operations.