this is bbc news — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. irish nationalists celebrate a watershed moment in northern ireland — as sinn fein wins the most seats in assembly elections. today ushers in a new era, which i believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society. the result is a huge breakthrough for a party once linked with the ira and has implications for the future of the united kingdom. we'll be live in belfast for the latest. also on the programme: ukraine says all women, children and the elderly have now been evacuated from azovstal steel plant in the city of mariupol.

rights in afghanistan under a new attack — the taliban order women to wear the full face veil. today they decreed that all women must cover their faces with a veil in public and they laid out an escalating series of punishments for any woman not complying. hello and welcome, if you're watching in the uk or around the world. we start with a landmark result with potentially huge implications for the future of the united kingdom. sinn fein have been confirmed as the party with most seats in the northern ireland assembly. it's a historic step for a group once known as the political wing of the paramilitary group, the ira.

sinn fein deputy leader michelle o'neill has called it the start of a "new era." sinn fein wants to take northern ireland out of the united kingdom and unite it with the irish republic. unionists, including the former largest party, the dup, want to remain part of the uk. our correspondent in belfast, chris page, has this report. it's all over, bar the cheering. cheering when the final election result is in, sinn fein will be on top. cheering for the first time, a party which is dedicated to taking northern ireland out of the uk is the biggest political force here. it's a huge historic moment for irish nationalism and a massively symbolic shift. sinn fein�*s vice president, michelle o'neill, is in line to become first minister. no irish nationalist has ever held the post before. today ushers in a new era, which i believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness,

on the basis of equality, and on the basis of socialjustice. irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work. cheering another major sign of change is the success of the party which is neither unionist nor nationalist. alliance has moved from fifth place to third in the assembly. its leader said the breakthrough had come after many years�* work. people wrote us off and said that there was no future for a shared future in northern ireland, and we've proven them wrong. it's taken us a while to get here, but we're here now, and i think we have proven there is a third way in politics here. but the democratic unionist party has lost about a fifth of its support. a strong focus of its campaign was its opposition to the brexit trade border with the rest of the uk. the dup says it'll block the formation of a devolved government until checks on goods arriving in northern ireland are scrapped.

but it's shed voters to a more harline party — the traditional unionist voice, which says the dup has been too weak on the issue. we will accept the outcome of the election. however, our position remains that we need to remove the long shadow of the protocol that is inhibiting our ability to operate and function properly within the political institutions, and the sooner that happens, the sooner we'll be in a position to move forward. under the power—sharing rules at stormont, unionists and nationalists have to agree to run northern ireland jointly before ministers can take up their positions. but it's far from clear whether the politicians who've been elected will ever get to govern. the dup is even less likely to go into coalition now that sinn fein is in front. after the disappointment and the delight of today, the future is uncertain. chris page, bbc news. before its rise, sinn fein

was a party ostracised by many. during the 30—year conflict in northern ireland, known as the troubles, it was seen as being associated with a campaign of violence. but once the party decided on a way forward through politics, it began to gain popularity. our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, looks back. her report contains flashing images. steeped in the violence of the past, sinn fein�*s political aims were born out of northern ireland's darkest days. the freedom fighters of the ira are now continuing the struggle against foreign occupation and domination! during the 30—year conflict here, sinn fein were the voice of the paramilitary group, the ira... explosions. ..who fought an armed campaign to try to break british rule in northern ireland. gerry adams, the leader of sinn fein during some of the worst of the ira violence, became both a hated and revered figure. we haven't gone away, you know.

today, the ira dead are remembered at the republican plot in milltown cemetery. many who served time in prison on their release became involved in the political movement to achieve a united ireland through peaceful means. those were very, very formative days and, clearly, the idea that we have to move forward politically is very much entrenched now in republican ideology. sinn fein sees the conflict as having been a legitimate armed struggle, but the party now strongly advocates peace. what's been key to their success, do you think? there's that organic link. sinn fein republican activists were part of the community. in the 1990s, sinn fein played a key role in bringing about the good friday agreement, which largely ended the violence. in the years after, their support at the ballot box grew. martin mcguinness, a former commander in the ira,, commander in the ira, became deputy first minister, sharing power with the dup.

for those who remember the past, sinn fein still deeply divide opinion, but in the party today, there are far fewer elected representatives who were involved in the armed conflict and their electoral success is a new milestone in what has been a remarkable political journey. if we look back to the good friday agreement, they would have been ex—prisoners, they would have been people who would have had links to that sort of republican wing of sinn fein/the ira. what we see now is a very young party, a very progressive party. it's full of young women — the two leaders are women, both of whom have no connection to that sort of previous past. but sinn fein�*s success is a bitter blow for unionism. the immediate challenge for the party's current leaders will be to form a new power—sharing executive at stormont, and governing in the first minister role may yet be some way off. we yet be some way off. can talk more about this with annita

we can talk more about this with annita mcveigh, who is in belfast. it's been a really long day for you. it's been a really long day for you. i think i saw your first tweet from their from about i think i saw your first tweet from theirfrom about nine i think i saw your first tweet from their from about nine hours ago. i think i saw your first tweet from theirfrom about nine hours ago. how much of a landmark day is this for northern ireland? it much of a landmark day is this for northern ireland?— much of a landmark day is this for northern ireland? it has been a long two da s northern ireland? it has been a long two days in — northern ireland? it has been a long two days in fact _ northern ireland? it has been a long two days in fact because _ northern ireland? it has been a long two days in fact because the - northern ireland? it has been a long two days in fact because the count l two days in fact because the count started yesterday early on. it has taken until now. i think we are almost of the full 90 seats. a couple of hours ago, we got to the point where it no other party could overtake sinn fein, the nationals want to see a united ireland. that means they are the largest party in the northern ireland assembly for the northern ireland assembly for the first time. their leader in northern ireland, michelle o neill, is entitled to be nominated to the position of first minister in the power—sharing assembly. but because of the of the way the power—sharing structures are set up here in ireland to take account of both

nationalist and unionist traditions, the democratic unionist party, the second largest party here at the end of these elections, has to nominate to the position of deputy first minister. 0ne post can't exist without the other. that's the whole point of power—sharing. it is unclear as to whether the democratic unionist party will actually take that step, largely because of their opposition to the northern ireland protocol which governs the post—brexit trading arrangements here. they set it undermines northern ireland the's constitutional position within the united kingdom. it is a hugely historic and significant they. sinn fein have emerged as at the largest party here for the first time. i should also mention the rise of the centre ground, the cross community alliance party. they don't identify as either unionists or nationalists. as someone born and brought up here,

i can tell you that is really quite significant. forso i can tell you that is really quite significant. for so long, i can tell you that is really quite significant. forso long, politics in northern ireland has a box people into two traditions, nationalist or unionist. as one of my guy said to me earlier, it is quite clear now that northern ireland is about more than just two tribes. haw that northern ireland is about more than just two tribes.— that northern ireland is about more than just two tribes. how much do we know about whether _ than just two tribes. how much do we know about whether an _ than just two tribes. how much do we know about whether an executive - than just two tribes. how much do we know about whether an executive will| know about whether an executive will be formed? i know about whether an executive will be formed? ., ., ., , ., be formed? i want to read you estimate from _ be formed? i want to read you estimate from the _ be formed? i want to read you estimate from the northern i be formed? i want to read you - estimate from the northern ireland secretary, brandon lewis. he has congratulated everyone elected and says he encourages the parties to form an executive as soon as possible. the people of northern ireland deserve a stable and accountable government that delivers on the issues that matter is to them. he went on, "the electorate delivered a number of messages on thursday. they were clearly they want a fully functioning devolved government in northern ireland. they want issues around the protocol address and they want politics to work better." he will be meeting

with the party leaders over the coming days. that is a period of eight days in which the first ministers can be nominated. if that does not happen, then there is another period of six months in which the parties can talk to try to resolve the issues. beyond that period of six months, this could be another election. ukraine's president zelensky says more than 300 people have now been evacuated from azovstal. that's the steel plant near mariupol which has been under siege by the russian military. earlier a senior minister said all women, children and the elderly had been removed. it's not clear how many others including ukrainian troops remain inside the compound. the operation to rescue civilians trapped there began a week ago. it's been co—ordinated

by the united nations and red cross, who are yet to confirm the news. elsewhere, ukrainian forces do appear to be seizing the initiative around the northern city of kharkhiv. they say they've managed to drive the russians out of five villages, which could make it much harder for president putin's forces to use their artillery on the city. this report from joe inwood in lviv. it was a simple house, but built with his own hands. ivan lysun fought for the soviets during the second world war. a few days ago, his home, along with all his possessions, were destroyed by russian shelling. transaltion: if i had the strength, i would be the first to defend. - i would stand and help our troops. you know, it hurts a lot. what did we fight for? what did we set free? but it seems ivan could be one of the last victims of russian shelling in kharkiv. explosion ukrainian forces say they've recaptured a number of villages on the outskirts of the country's second city. analysts believe the russians could soon be pushed out of artillery range.

that would be welcome news to the defenders of barvinkove, a strategic town on the edge of the donbas. they're well dug in here, but know the russians are coming. "they want to go to dnipro and zaporizhzhia", maxym says. "they want to capture our territory, to encircle us, surround us. but this will not happen. we will not allow it." in the port city of mariupol, the un and red cross say they will continue their attempts to free civilians from the besieged azovstal steelworks. yesterday, they escorted a further 50 civilians to safety. president zelensky says he hopes they will not be the last people to walk out alive. translation: we are also working on diplomatic options _ to rescue our soldiers who still remain at azovstal. powerful intermediaries are involved, powerful states. this war is also one of information. ukrainian activists in berlin released this video, parodying the images from the start

of the war as they pull former soviet tanks from their pedestals. it came as russia made final preparations for its annual victory day parade. a show of might from a military that, in places, now appears to be on the back foot. joe inwood, bbc news, lviv. in afghanistan, the taliban have ordered women to cover their faces with a veil when in public, warning if they fail to do so, their males relatives could be jailed for three days or sent to court. women s rights activists have or sent to court. secunder kermani reports from kabul. the clothes afghan women wear have been fiercely debated and fought over. this is a conservative country and many wear the blue burqa or cover their face. but in big cities, like in this market in kabul, many others choose just to cover their hair.

translation: humans are born free. no—one has the right to talk about women's clothes. at the ministry of prevention of vice and promotion of virtue, the taliban announced the veil would be compulsory. any woman repeatedly not complying could see their male relatives jailed. many women in afghanistan do wear the burqa already, but many others don't — theyjust cover their hair — and they see that as being perfectly in accordance with islamic and afghan values. so, who are you to tell them how they should be dressing? translation: in afghanistan, 99% of women follow the correct hijab. l the other i%, we request them to implement this decree. this is not our order, but the order of god. when they took power last august, it initially appeared as if the taliban were much less strict than they were 20 years ago.

but in recent weeks, their ministry of vice and virtue has been issuing more and more hardline decrees, governing in particular the lives of afghan women. the schools need to be open, there is famine all over this country. there are suicide bombings. there are so many other problems. instead of looking after that, they are always after women. teenage girls have still not been allowed back to school. many worry that the fragile progress made on women's rights here is now unravelling. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. the headlines on bbc news: sinn fein have secured an historic victory in the northern ireland assembly election. ukraine says all women, children and the elderly have now been evacuated from azovstal steel plant in the city of mariupol. sport — and for a full round—up

from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. hello and thanks forjoining us. there's a big game taking place in the premier league right now. liverpool and tottenham at anfield. liverpool could go top, but it is 1—1. earlier, manchester united were hammered 4—0 at brighton. they've just got one game left under interim manager ralf rangnick interim manager ralf rangnick and can't finish any higher than sixth. keep up—to—date with all of those results on the bbc bbc sport website. ~ . ., results on the bbc bbc sport website. ~ ., , ., ., , ., website. we can only apologise to our own supporters _ website. we can only apologise to our own supporters who _ website. we can only apologise to our own supporters who came - website. we can only apologise to our own supporters who came all| website. we can only apologise to i our own supporters who came all the way here to brighton. we were just not good enough from start to finish, allowed them too much space and also too much time in possession. yeah, that's why we were

struggling all through the game. chelsea threw away a two—goal lead against wolves — on a day where the sale of the club was agreed. a deal is now in place with an american consortium led by billionnaire todd boly. he was watching at stamford bridge this afternoon as chelsea looked to consolidate third spot in the table. romelu lukaku got two goals in three second—half minutes, but conor coady scored a 97th minute equaliser to keep wolves in europa league contention. thomas tuchel was not happy. he's been talking to the bbc�*s vicky sparks. i think that we give everything, but the decisions we take, where we take risks and the decision to read the game, what is needed to be disciplined enough, we struggled in that. i don't know why exactly, but we get punished for it. fit that. i don't know why exactly, but we get punished for it.— we get punished for it. of the itch, we get punished for it. of the pitch. the _ we get punished for it. of the pitch, the news _ we get punished for it. of the pitch, the news that - we get punished for it. of the pitch, the news that the - we get punished for it. of the pitch, the news that the club | we get punished for it. of the i pitch, the news that the club has agreed terms with todd boly. have

you met him yet? i agreed terms with todd boly. have you met him yet?— you met him yet? i haven't, it is important- _ you met him yet? i haven't, it is important- itut— you met him yet? i haven't, it is important. but is _ you met him yet? i haven't, it is important. but is out _ you met him yet? i haven't, it is important. but is out of- you met him yet? i haven't, it is important. but is out of my i you met him yet? i haven't, it is i important. but is out of my hands, i don't know when this will happen. watford have been relegated after losing at crystal palace. burnley�*s 3—1 defeat by aston villa means they are just two points above the relegation places. it's tight at the bottom of la liga, too. the relegation picture has twisted a few times already on saturday. earlier, granada jumped above mallorca by beating them 6—2 away. that moved mallorca to just above the drop zone, and now they're in the bottom three because cadiz won against elche. betis are hoping to boost their champions league hopes at home to barcelona. the latest score there is 0—0. and it was a day for the away teams across germany — dortmund and leverkusen consolidating their second and third places in the bundesliga, while union berlin move up to the european places. britain's simon yates won the second stage of the giro d'italia, and moved up to second place in the overall standings. stage 2 was a time trial on the streets of budapest — and yates flew

round the six—mile course in under 12 minutes. mathieu van der poel kept yates out of the leader's pinkjersey — he was three seconds slower but retains the overall lead by 11 seconds. that's all the sport for now. in just two days, the philippines will elect their president and vice president — on a six—year term. leading the polls on a joint ticket, is ferdinand "bongbong" marcoer, son of a late dictator, and sara duterte, daughter of the outgoing president, who's running for vice—president. howard johnson is in the philippine capital, manila, with the latest. philippine elections are a fun and lively affair, as you can see. lots of music, entertainment. at the moment, there are people coming on the stage in support of leni robredo, the vice president, currently second place in opinion polls for this election. you can see her supporters have come

out in huge numbers, 300,000 is the estimate. kevin here is one of them. why are you supporting leni robredo? i am supporting leni robredo because because she has no corruption issues. she is a lawyer, an economist, and she has a good platform and good governance record. how about her chief opponent, bongbong marcos, currently the front runner in this election? well, i am not fake news, i am not for disinformation. he has been staying in the government for long, but results were not that significant. that's why i am not going further. when kevin says fake news there, bongbong marcos�* critics say that he has used social media to whitewash the history of his father, using tiktok to make videos that glorify the family, and erase the human rights abuses and the plundering of up to $10 billion of public money and commercial money during that time. his supporters say that he is going to bring unity to the country, bongbong marcos, and that he can bring together the north and the south with sara duterte

as his vice president. and that they can make the country rise again. now, filipinos will go to the polls on monday morning. 6am they will open, they will close at 7pm. they have been extended this time around because of the covid—i9 pandemic, giving basically more time to queue up, get into those polling booths. we can expect results to come as early as monday night. let's return to the situation in ukraine. every year, the ukrainian city of uman hosts thousands of 0rthodoxjewish pilgrims. but since the russian invasion, ukraine'sjewish community has fragmented, fleeing russian forces that president putin claims are there to denazify the country. those who stayed in uman, in central western ukraine, have offered shelter and support to evacuees from all over the country. 0ur correspondent, caroline davies has the story. there are images that some

viewers may find upsetting. morning prayers in uman. even in war, there are still a dedicated few that gather at the grave of rabbi nachman. during thejewish holiday of rosh hashanah, this is a place of pilgrimage. but for now, many of those that lived here have decided to leave. this is a holy site for orthodox jews. but uman is also a city at the crossroads. there are roads here from kyiv, from dnipro, from 0desa, which means that this is a city that many people came through when they were fleeing their country. one of the largest synagogues in europe, filled during the annual holiday is now empty, so instead, it's become an evacuee welcome center — open to everyone, regardless of religion. we decided to give them a place to sleep, the hotel and the medical centre. any way war is not good. but we must do make from the lemon lemonade, you know. the basement usually used for ritual washing, mikvah, is now a bunker — one of a few in the city.

it was usually staying from 50—200 people usually, and some of them even were sleeping during all the night. for sure, i can say that the hasidim community and ukrainians became more closer. they don't differentiate the jewish people, notjewish — it doesn't matter. some in uman still remember the last war to reach the city — the nazi occupation — death, destruction and terror across ukraine, images that have chilling echoes today. 0lga, yevgen and dmytro are holocaust survivors, all still live a few miles away from where the horrors of their childhood took place. yevgen remembers, narrowly escaping from a basement where nazi soldiers attempted to gas him with exhaust fumes. dmytro's family lived in a forest to escape nazi troops. 0lga was only two when the soldiers arrived in her village. translation: they took us five kilometres to a field. _ i was with my mum and my granny. there were ditches dug.

then the soldiers began to shoot. they started in the morning and it went on until midday. then they sprinkled a little earth and left. two boys survived and dug me out with their hands. i was hidden by a family until the war ended. there's anger at president putin's propaganda, justifying his involvement in ukraine as de—nazifying the country. translation: i have many relatives in russia. - they start telling me that we have a lot of nazis and i tell them, "if this is true, then i am also a nazi. "you can kill me too." over 80 years on, others are relying on the kindness of strangers. this family of seven escaped from russian occupied kherson two weeks ago, one of over 100 families hosted by thejewish community in a hotel forfree. "i'm almost 70", says grandfather victor. "but i've never seen anything like this in my life. "theyjust said, �*here's everything you need'. "we did not expect this. "as long as i live, i'll be

so grateful to these people", says his daughter. the family don't know how long they'll call this hotel home. but for now, a small moment of calm in this place of pilgrimage now become a place of refuge. caroline davies, bbc news, uman. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello there. saturday sunshine amounts have certainly varied. the picture behind me is from the north coast of northern ireland. there was some sunshine here. and look at this beautiful shot from one of our weather watchers in the western isles of scotland. gorgeous blue skies overhead. contrast that with the rather gray conditions for this weather watcher walking along the coast in kent. this grey shading here shows where we did have some clouds today. it produced some showery rain in places. there's more cloud waiting in the wings out in the atlantic, initially very weak frontal systems

introducing a bit more cloud into northern ireland, western scotland, a little bit of rain here by the end of the night. some areas of low cloud, mist and mark elsewhere. rather chilly for eastern scotland and eastern england, milderfurther west, ten for belfast for liverpool, 12 degrees for cardiff. into tomorrow, high pressure trying to hold firm. but these frontal systems will be grazing in from the atlantic, introducing a bit more cloud for a time in northern ireland, especially the north west of scotland. there will be some rain here pushing up towards shetland by the afternoon. but elsewhere early mist and murk tending to clear lingering for some of these western coasts. we will see some spells of sunshine, but some patchy cloud as well. small chance for a shower, especially in north wales, northern england and southern scotland. a little bit cool for some north sea coasts, but elsewhere highs of 18 to 20 degrees. 0ur area of high pressure is set to retreat as we move into monday. and this next frontal system is going to be a more active affair.

so this is going to bring some quite heavy and persistent rain across parts of northern ireland. western scotland, not as much rain into eastern scotland, much of england and wales staying dry. and where we hold on to some sunshine through central and eastern parts, there will be a taste of warmth. 20 degrees for hull, for birmingham, for norwich, 22 in london, butjust ia further north in glasgow and in aberdeen. now into tuesday, this band of rain sinks southeastwards, weakening all the while, not much rain getting into the south—east corner. behind that, sunny spells, some blustery showers will be quite windy and it will be a little bit cooler again, 13 to maybe 20 in the far southeast. and it does look like turning a little bit cooler through the middle parts of the week.

hello this is bbc news, with nancy kacungira. the headlines: sinn fein have secured an historic victory in the northern ireland assembly election. it's the first time a party in northern ireland that designates as nationalist has won the most seats. ukraine says all women, children and the elderly have now been evacuated from azovstal steel plant in the city of mariupol. the plant has been the focus of heavy russian bombardment. the taliban have ordered all women to wear a face veil when in public, returning afghanistan to the dress code enforced during their previous time in power. activists say years of progress on women s rights are being rolled back. and chelsea get their new owners — terms have been agreed, with the consortium led by american todd boehly.

now on bbc news, our world: welcome to the metaverse?