welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: no outright winner in italy's general election — but the anti—establishment five star movement says it holds the balance of power. as syrian government forces advance into eastern ghouta, president assad insists the offensive will go on. delegates at china's annual parliamentary session are expected to rubber stamp a proposal allowing president xijinping to rule for life. and — lights — cameras — action — the oscars are under way — sam rockwell and alisonjanney among the early winners. italy appears to be heading for a hung parliament, with exit polls suggesting that no group has won a majority

in the country's general election. the anti—establishment five star movement is projected to be the single largest party — italian media is saying it's won more than 30% of the vote. that's several points more than the centre—left. the polls are just that — exit predictions. but they suggest the five star movement will end up with 34% of the vote. the centre—left democratic party of prime minister paolo gentiloni is projected to get 18.1%. and the anti—immigrant lega nord, 15.8%. it's unclear if forza italia, of the former prime minister silvio berlusconi, with 13.9% will be the single biggest party within the centre—right coalition. our europe editor katya adler sent this report from naples. in polling stations across italy today, there was a sense of uncertainty. voters told us they wanted change but were not sure which political party to trust.

translation: italians are abused and frustrated. politicians need to hear our voice today. translation: i'm so worried about italy, i said a prayer before coming to vote. matteo renzi and other centre—left leaders running italy's current government, are preparing for a bruising at the polls. italians say that top concerns remained the insecurejob markets, frustration with the euro and mass irregular migration from africa. luigi di maio is the leader of the anti—establishment five star movement tipped tonight to become italy's largest political party. i caught up with him in naples this morning, just before he casts his vote. translation: traditional politicians have kept telling italians that everything is fine when it is not. my party's motto is to be amongst the people. but the political system here favours coalitions

so his controversial party could be left out in the cold. meaning this familiar face could be kingmaker instead. naples and the south of italy will swing today's vote. silvio berlusconi campaigned here this weekend, on behalf of a right—wing coalition peppered with populists, like this rising star anti—immigration politician, voting today in milan. so what does this rather chaotic political picture mean for italy and europe? after all, this is the eurozone‘s third largest economy. confusion — or "confusione" as it's known here — is quintessentially italian. brussels is used to it, the financial markets seem prepared for it. they believe that a coalition government will water down more extremist populists policies on offer but how does that help italians get to grips with their problems? viola carofallo heads a civilian

protest party in naples. translation: these days, italy's politicians blame everything on immigration but that is a lie. youth unemployment, precarious contracts — that is our problem. that is why italians live badly. their vote is now cast, all italians can do is wait. today's election will be followed by weeks of political horsetrading — change does not come fast in italy. with me now to discuss this is edoardo bressanelli, a senior lecturer in european politics at king's college london. thank you forjoining us. firstly, we should say that this is just a prediction. it is the exit poll, not the actual result. what is the most likely combination that you think will occur? difficult to say. given

we are rating for final results which have not yet been counted. it is difficult to say, also because of the difficulty of making political alliances in a context where there isa alliances in a context where there is a hung parliament. coalitions have to be remade through negotiations. it may take time, it may require them to fire —— form different coalitions to get into government. what happens now? the italian president will ask the party to try and form a coalition? is that normally the biggest party? that is correct. the five star movement, the biggest party but there can be a bigger coalition than a party and the biggest coalition which was

together in the election is the centre—right coalition. it may be that the leader of lega nord who has a majority was in the coalition, it may not be silvio berlusconi who got as much as he thought. has there been a time in recent memory when they have been so many antiestablishment parties at the forefront of italian politics?” think it is exceptional. if you take a longitudinal perspective, it shows how widespread euroscepticism has become in this country. we should not forget that 20 years ago italy was, by the aisle, the most european country was in the area. now it is the most static. that is presumably because of the way the economy has

struggled over the last few years. these issues are being blamed on a very strict brussels? that is the correct. euroscepticism started to creep into the mainstream of italian politics in early 2000 when the euro was introduced. from that moment onwards it has become a stronger and stronger force. thank you very much. as syrian government forces advance into eastern ghouta, president assad has insisted the offensive will go on. his words came amid reports that hundreds of civilians are fleeing the enclave. the united states has strongly condemned the assault, as well as russian and iranian backing for it. a monitoring group says more than thirty people, including children, were killed on sunday and that the army has now taken about a quarter of ghouta. our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports from damascus. these people said their village was moving because

the syrian army had arrived. one man cursed the russians and iranians, key allies of the regime. air strikes he said including banned cluster bombs had not stopped. translation: it has been five days, no fuel, no bread, no food, no water. where is the world? where are human rights? we are humans, not animals. 400,000 people live in eastern ghouta, an area of fields and small towns about the size of manchester. most of them are civilians who have not been able to escape the war. translation: when the planes shelled, i could not see anything in front of me. i did not wait for the ambulance, i started running. the air strikes have been

followed by ground troops who are making rapid advances. the strategy seems to be to cut eastern ghouta in half. negotiations between the rebel groups and the russians have been going on for quite some time. it is not clear if the objective is a ceasefire or the effective surrender of the rebels. the biggest rebel group says it is regrouping after a retreat. the fighting is still going on, for the regime the prize is the end of the last major rebel enclave around damascus. for the rebels, these are desperate moments. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. the annual session of china's parliament, the national people's congress, has opened in beijing. delegates will spend the next two weeks thrashing out policy and direction for the nation —

but one proposal has the world watching — a change to the constitution that would allow president xi jinping to stay in power indefinitely. let's speak to stephen mcdonell, our correspondent in beijing. what is going on now? here at the great hall of the people, the national people's congress has been dominated by this proposal to extend the term of president xijinping by this proposal to extend the term of president xi jinping to a limitless set of terms, if you like. at the moment the president of china is supposed to only have two five—year terms and for decades it seemed like that would be the transition from one leader to the next. however, now president xi jinping will hang on for as long as he likes when this goes through. i say when because the congress here has never actually rejected any

suggestion from the communist party leadership in china so i would have to assume that this will go through as well. there is also a lot of interest around this proposed new anticorruption interest around this proposed new anticorru ption body which interest around this proposed new anticorruption body which will also be announced at this meeting. that body will have extraordinary powers, potentially, to detain for several months in secret locations, anyone accused of corruption without a lawyer. this has raised many questions from lawyers and human rights organisations and then, beyond these things, we also have questions of the economy and the environment. the budget for the military in china and so on. a lot to be discussed over two weeks here at the congress. this is just the first day. it normally does for ten days but because there is so much on the plate for the delegates here

this time it will go through until the 20th. as i say, everything else is struggling for traction, compared to the news that xi jinping can potentially be resident for life. we will keep an eye on the story over the next few weeks. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: tributes are paid to sir roger bannister. the first man to break the four—minute mile, who's died at the age of eighty—eight. first, the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched on to her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima.

i heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out, so they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the anti—establishment five star movement says it may hold the balance of power following the italian general election. no grouping is thought to have won an outright majority. let's stay with that top story now. thank you forjoining us. thank you.

we've had the five star movement, the antiestablishment party, projections suggest they will have the largest number of votes. they have said they're not interested in going into government but with so many going into government but with so ma ny votes going into government but with so many votes they have to grow up, don't they? yes. the last statement be released tonight on live italian tv was, we're not asking for votes in parliament, the other leaders have to come with us and we will then decide whether to accept the majority. like that they will never form a new government. they could get a fewjobs, like secretary of

state, and they could give some to other parties but it's not clear who could join them. not the democratic party. they have split with silvio berlusconi. it will be a strange coalition with the populist leftist five star movement and the populist right... we will see if it happens in italy like it happened in greece. there's been a huge shift, what happened to the mainstream centre centre—right parties? happened to the mainstream centre centre-right parties? they still got one fifth of the italian votes. way below the 40% that berlusconi got in 2014. renzi was wounded when he lost the constitutional referendum in 2016. the public opinion turned against him. italians wanted a change. even berlusconi for the

first time lost the leadership of the centre—right, it fell to sell karim cheurfi, the... italy doesn't have a majority and we will see if the five star movement can muster a majority in the house and the senate. it won't be easy and it won't be pretty. does there have to bea won't be pretty. does there have to be a majority or can a minority coalition government? a minority coalition government? a minority coalition could govern if the other parties are at least going to abstain on crucial bills —— govan. —— govan. they need to pay a basic salary to

all the citizens. they want to renegotiate the position of italy in the eurozone and withdraw italy from many defence operations, in afghanistan and other regions. it is a big problem they have and i don't know who will vote for that. thank you very much. after a year of turmoil in the film industry, hollywood has once again rolled out the red carpet for the oscars. let's get more now from our correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. peter, some more gongs have been handed out? it's been a busy evening. let me one through a few of the categories, the first of all was to sam rockwell for best supporting actor for to sam rockwell for best supporting actorfor bill shorten to sam rockwell for best supporting actor for bill shorten spill boards. he plays the racist cop —— for three

billboards outside ebbing, missouri. lots of people thought he would win and he did. best supporting actor oss, allison janney, and he did. best supporting actor oss, allisonjanney, she plays tonya harding's mother in i, tonya —— best supporting actor oss. she was the favourite in that film. dunkirk has one in three categories, two of the sound categories, sound editing and mixing and also for film editing. sound categories, sound editing and mixing and also forfilm editing. on sunset boulevard in the heart of hollywood, i am joined sunset boulevard in the heart of hollywood, iam joined by sunset boulevard in the heart of hollywood, i am joined by two film critics, amy nicholson and the bbc‘s tom broke. the show so far predictable in terms of the big winners? -- tom brook. it has been. we re winners? -- tom brook. it has been. were waiting to see what will happen with best picture because everyone thinks the acting races are sorted out ina thinks the acting races are sorted out in a way —— we're waiting to see. everyone thinks it will be the

shape of water but three build could create a surprise upset. hopefully there will be a surprise at some point, amy? one of the categories we are watching is best director. if get out wins will they get the best rector? let's talk about best foreign—language, both of you have seen this film featuring a transgender character,... seen this film featuring a transgender character, . .. it is seen this film featuring a transgender character,... it is a landmark this film because for the first time there's an oscar—winning film that has been led by a transgender actress playing a transgender actress playing a transgender woman. the actress daniela vega and she does a great job from the time the film was launched at the berlin film festival. it's been inspirational for the transgender community. she did an excellent job. for the transgender community. she did an excellentjob. it was for the transgender community. she did an excellent job. it was a favoured to win in this category. did an excellent job. it was a favoured to win in this categorym was a tough category. i was hoping that daniela vega might get a best actress nominee, there was hope of

that with her strong performance, but fantastic. oso won not just because of the political statement but it is beautiful with the cinematography and delivers. allison janney winning the best supporting actress, this is a year about strong women in these pivotal roles. i said allison janney women in these pivotal roles. i said allisonjanney may be a bit out of character, she doesn't normally play these aggressive roles? she played such a wonderful monstrous mother. a rather horrific mother. you feel sorry for tonya harding watch it had to deal with but allison janney, she's had a long career as a character actress, made a big name for herself on television, this was really a deserved award. interested, amy, from an american perspective, this is the story of tonya harding thatis this is the story of tonya harding that is better known in this country. it was a huge global story but people understood the intricacies of the story rather better in this country? they did, but what was so striking about i,

tonyais but what was so striking about i, tonya is how much we didn't know. i thought tonya harding was a mean trashy ice skater who destroyed a princess, but many realised watching this film that we have been lied to by the tabloids and how much we didn't know. the best picture award, it could be a cliffhanger, and the question is, has the academy sorted out the envelopes? they have and they have taken measures. they have a third balloting partnerfrom pricewaterhousecoopers in the control room who knows the results and will step in rapidly if anything goes wrong. they have the celebrity presenter and a stage manager checking each person has the right envelope. i think it will be unlikely if it happens again. i would like something like that to happen because it is so entertaining. it would be a shame if something similar didn't happen because it was the best moment at least for observers of the oscars

last year. it was. the biggest risk is saying the wrong names but will they make warren beatty and faye dunaway suffer through a caramel joke about envelopes when they do present best picture this year? -- crueljoke. all present best picture this year? -- cruel joke. all that still to present best picture this year? -- crueljoke. all that still to come. tributes are being paid to an icon of british sport, sir roger bannister, who's died at the age of 88. in 1954 he was the first person to run a mile in underfour minutes. joe wilson looks back at his life. newsreel: 25-year-old roger bannister, third from the left... there are some moments of sporting history which become part of the world's history. he's decided that this is the right moment. what roger bannister achieved in 1954 was like a lunar landing for 20th century sport. bannister‘s old friend and rival chris chataway is in third place, waiting him time to take over as pacer. to run a mile and stop the clock before it reached

four minutes. in 1954, this was a magical number, a barrier of human achievement. a feat that would redefine what was humanly possible. and it would fall to a young medical student to achieve it. after two—and—a—half laps, brasher gives way to chataway. bannister, a superb tactician, has suffered some criticism in the past for adopting his own rather unorthodox training methods. but they're paying dividends now. at this point, it becomes quite painful. i overtake chris chataway and begin the finish. and here he comes. bannister goes streaking forward with about 250 yards to the tapes. every stride counted. the tape broke at three minutes 59.4 seconds. and bannister has done it. though he's out on his feet, his coach and team manager tell him he's achieved his ambition. it might have felt like the world stopped when that clock stopped. "four minute mile" was a sporting catch phrase everyone recognised. well, all i can say is that i'm absolutely

overwhelmed and delighted. it was a great surprise to me to be able to do it today, and i think i was very lucky. there was certainly a feeling of it being a national event, and something of a landmark for the country. sir roger bannister was a hugely influential figure in sport, especially for those whose athletics careers came after. roger was a great athlete. he would tease seb and i in later years about had he been around in our day and had better tracks and better shoes and better training methods, he would have beaten us. he was one of the cleverest people i think i've ever met, and he was, in equal measure, modest as well. he never really got what he did and it wasn't a front. laura muir is the most recent athlete to continue great britain's middle distance tradition, giving everything to win a silver medal at the world indoor championships this weekend. she studied medicine to become a vet, and recognises her link to bannister.

i think he was very influential and very sort of inspirational to a lot of people, and certainly to me, that you can combine, you know, academics and running. sir roger bannister was knighted in 1975. athletics was only a small part of his life. he regarded his work as a neurologist as more significant. when he was diagnosed with parkinson's disease, he described the gentle irony that a neurologist should find himself with a neurological condition. training for roger bannister in athletics had been half an hour a day on a cinder track. the world's first four minute miler was also perhaps sport's last great amateur. sir roger bannister, who has died at the age of 88. this has been bbc news. thank you

very much for watching. goodbye. hello. thanks forjoining me. ijust want to bring you right up—to—date with how we see the next week of weather for the british isles. given the extent and the severity of the conditions that we endured last week, no great surprise if i tell you that the snow is not just going to magically disappear. things will gradually improve, and for that we have to thank an area of low pressure, which will supply relatively mild airs from the atlantic, rather than dragging in cold air yet again from the near continent. but that mild air comes at something of a price. it'll be a murky start across the central and southern parts of the british isles. further north, as we drag moisture into a colder regime across scotland, so we will see further snowfall, mostly on the hills but some of it getting down to lower levels. and in the south, some of those showers really quite heavy and prolonged. from monday into tuesday, that low pressure still very close by to the british isles. notice we're dragging a weather front ever further towards the north, and again,

as things dry out under fairly leaden skies across england and wales, so we push that moisture on the front up into a pretty cold regime. and again, for the most part across the high ground, that's where we're going to see further significant snowfall. further south, it's a fairly quiet sort of day. and as we get from tuesday on into wednesday, you'll see there are very few isobars across the south. so again, it could be pretty murky. sunshine rather in short supply, there will be some brightness, there'll be the odd sharp shower in the south. looking further north, i think the snowfall becoming confined to the north—western quarter, so some relief at last for southern and eastern parts. northern ireland, a smattering of showers, a little bit of sleet perhaps across the highest ground. still pretty quiet as we move from wednesday to thursday. this middle section of the week marked by some night—time frosts, and because the days are just that little bit cooler, there could be a little bit of wintriness about the showers, particularly across the higher ground of northern britain. further south, the weather front may just introduce some rain

to the channel islands and to some of the channel coastal counties. temperatures not quite as widely in double figures as they may well have been at the first half of the week. we may develop a low pressure close to scotland, so unsettled fare there. we may eventually drag some weather fronts with milder air up into the south—western quarter of the british isles as well, but in between, a pretty quiet sort of day and those temperatures just beginning to ratchet up by a degree or two in the beginning of the week. so this is the lineup for the week ahead, becoming slightly milder. it will be a bit unsettled and there could well be some snow, particularly for scotland. this is bbc news. the headlines: the anti—establishment five star movement says it may hold the balance of power — following the italian general election. no political grouping is thought to have won an outright majority — but five star — which was established less than ten years ago — has emerged as the single biggest party. the united states has issued its strongest condemnation yet of the syrian government assault on the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta.

president bashar al assad said the offensive would continue — and dismissed assessments of the humanitarian situation in the enclave as ridiculous lies. the annual session of china's parliament — the national people's congress — has opened in the capital — beijing. the parliament is set to endorse the constitutional amendments that will remove the two—term limit for the presidency. this will allow president xi jinping to stay in power indefinitely. now on bbc news, it's dateline london.