a watershed moment in northern ireland as sinn fein takes the most seats in the election for the devolved assembly. cheering it is the first time a nationalist party has come top — it means sinn fein will now be entitled to nominate a first minister. 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. disappointment for the democratic unionist party, who came second — will they power share with sinn fein? the result poses major questions about devolution and the future of northern ireland — we'll look at sinn fein�*s history and its rise to power.

also tonight... labour's leader sir keir starmer won't say if he'll resign — should police fine him for breaking covid rules last year. he insists he's done nothing wrong. the taliban in afghanistan order women to cover their faces with a veil in public — the latest in a series of restrictions on women and girls. and celtic close in on the scottish premiership title after an emphatic win against hearts. good evening. sinn fein has secured an historic victory in the election

to the northern ireland assembly. as the final counting continues, sinn fein has 27 assembly members, while the democratic unionist party have 24. the cross—community alliance party has 17 seats, the ulster unionist party has nine, and the social democratic and labour party has seven. it is the first time a nationalist party in northern ireland has won the most seats — with sinn fein�*s ultimate goal being for northern ireland to leave the uk and become one country with the republic of ireland. our correspondent chris page reports, and a warning — there is some flash photography. smiles, flashes and cheers, were the sure—fire signs of sinn fein�*s success. cheering the party has retained its 27 seats, and that is enough to top the table. 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 the first minister. no nationalist has ever won 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 indication of change is the surge of the party which is neither unionist nor nationalist. alliance has more than doubled its number of seats, moving from fifth place to third in the assembly. its leaders 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, known as the northern ireland protocol. the dup says it'll block the formation of a devolved government until checks on goods are scrapped. but it's shed votes to a more hard—line party — the traditional unionist voice, which claims 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 the politicians who've been elected are unlikely to get to govern any time soon. the dup is even less likely to go into a coalition now that sinn fein is in front. after the disappointment and delight of today, the future is an unclear picture. chris page, bbc news. in the years before its rise, sinn fein was a party ostracised by many in the political sphere. 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, and had members elected as mps in the 1980s, 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 in our continuing 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. they 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, 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 two 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. while the result today marks a historic victory for sinn fein, it will bring new challenges for power—sharing at stormont and next week the parties will meet back here and they will be required to nominate a first and deputy first minister and the dup have said they already won't do that because of its opposition to the brexit arrangements. even though those roles are equal, they are joint, and the dup is even less likely to want to go back into government serving as a deputy alongside a sinn fein first minister. negotiations with the eu are continuing to try to

solve those brexit problems with the irish sea border and while that is continuing the dup position is unlikely to change. so if in six months there isn't a new agreement between the parties here, we could between the parties here, we could be heading in theory for a fresh set of elections. emma vardy, many thanks. pressure is growing on the labour leader sir keir starmer 7 as police continue to investigate whether he broke covid rules a year ago when he was filmed drinking a beer with colleagues in an mp's office. tonight, a sunday newspaper published an internal labour document showing time was set aside in advance for those there to have a takeaway curry. earlier this afternoon sir keir had this to say when asked if he might resign. as i've explained a number of times, i was working in the office, we stopped for something to eat. there was no party, there was no breach of the rules — i'm confident about that. our political correspondent, chris mason, joins me now. how serious is this for the labour leader? it is potentially very serious

indeed. the mail on sunday has a memo that you referred to, but it will be for the police to decide if thatis will be for the police to decide if that is significant but what we do know is that the police said they had cleared keir starmer in february but they have come into possession of enough evidence to start looking at this all over again. what happened here, a year ago keir starmer had a beer and a curry and that was in an np�*s office while he and others were campaigning in the north—east of england —— mp. what matters now is not what happened then but more what he has said since because pretty much since christmas he has been making political capital out of pointing out the outrage as he sees it and millions of others do, about the behaviour within government involving borisjohnson government involving boris johnson and government involving borisjohnson and others as far as breaches of lockdown rules were concerned. and now his critics say, hang on a minute, if you claim a moral high horse, don't be surprised if it turns into a bucking bronco if it is proven you have broken the rules as

well. the police made clear keir starmer again, to be clear, but if he were to be fined, it could be politically fatal and he could be forced to resign as the labour leader. , . , forced to resign as the labour leader. , ., , ., ukraine says all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the azovstal steelworks, in the southern port city of mariupol. their departure comes after heavy russian bombardment of the plant in recent weeks. ukrainian fighters — holed up inside — have prevented russian forces from taking complete control of the strategically important city. many civilians have gone to the city of zaporizhzhia. live there for us tonight is our correspondent, laura bicker. what does russia do next? i should exlain what does russia do next? i should explain that — what does russia do next? i should explain that we _ what does russia do next? i should explain that we are _ what does russia do next? i should explain that we are in _ what does russia do next? i should explain that we are in the _ what does russia do next? i should explain that we are in the dark- explain that we are in the dark because there is a curfew in zaporizhzhia. we have heard from ukrainian fighters that they managed to get the civilians out by waving

white flags and signalling to russian troops who signalled back and that would imply a degree of coordination between these sides to save civilian lives but russia has continued to show up this plant despite promises of a ceasefire and there is no doubt that when in the entire port of mariupol, winning it would be symbolic for vladimir putin ahead of the victory day celebrations on the 9th of may, so now there are fears for the 2000 ukrainian fighters that are thought to still be inside the plant and who have vowed never to surrender. president zelensky said negotiations are under way for their safe passage but achieving that might now be a race against time.— race against time. laura, many thanks. in afghanistan, the taliban have ordered women to cover their faces with a veil when in public, warning that if they fail to do so, their male relatives could be jailed for three days.

women's rights activists have reacted with dismay. it's the latest hard line edict to be issued by the department known as the ministry for the prevention of vice and promotion of virtue. 0ur afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani, sent this report 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 hard—line 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, oh dear, god. instead of looking after that, they're 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. with all the sport now, here's katherine downes at the bbc sport centre. thanks, rita. good evening.sportscene is on later this evening — so you might want to avoid the scoreline from today's big match in scotland. celtic have all but secured the scottish premiership title after beating hearts 4—1. ben croucher watched the action. at celtic park they come in expectation rather than hope, when it rather than if they win the scottish premiership, and by beating hearts that if would all be but gone, but one problem... as it turned out the setback would be minor, and the response, daizen maeda. celtic were making hard work of getting over the line. kyogo,

just. shaky start suppressed, this was now a day to celebrate, and the trophy isn't in celtic�*s hands just yet but matt 0'riley gave this half of glasgow the perfect excuse to get the party started early. giakoumakis gave them something to cheer late on, nine points clear, three games to go, celtic are almost there, and it is nothing less than they expected. ben croucher, bbc news. match of the day follows this programme — so don't listen if you want to wait for the results, because here they come. liverpool could only manage a draw with tottenham at anfield — city play newcastle tomorrow. that result hands the momentum to manchester city in the race for the premier league title. tottenham are just a point off fourth.

the man leading the multi—billion dollar bid to buy chelsea was at stamford bridge today — american todd boly watching on as they threw away a two goal lead to draw with wolves. chelsea still in the champions league places — wolves stay 8th. but watford are relegated — losing to crystal palace i—0 — they go straight back down to the championship, along with norwich. while manchester united were beaten 4—0 by brighton. wigan and huddersfield will contest rugby league's challenge cup after semi—final wins today. while st helens beat leeds rhinos in front of a record crowd at elland road, to retain the women's challenge cup. and at the first miami grand prix, championship leader charles leclerc�*s ferrari is on pole for tomorrow's race — with team mate carlos sainz second, ahead of red bull's max verstappen. lewis hamilton starts in 6th. there's more on the bbc sport website including leicester tigers' defeat to leinster in the quarterfinals of the european champions cup. but from me, goodnight. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. that's all from me. goodnight.

let's get more now on the news that sinn fein have become the biggest party in northern ireland's devolved government for the first time. as the final counting continues,

sinn fein have won 27 seats, with the democratic unionists securing 24. the cross—community alliance party has increased its number by nine to 17. joining me now is dr clare rice, politics researcher at the university of liverpool. sinn fein in the victory speech have been talking about a new era. i5 been talking about a new era. is that how you see it? i think it is fair to say something has shifted in northern ireland's politics with this result. the idea of it being a two group political system dom by the unionist and nationalist groups seems to be certain that weekend, if not eroded. we have the strength of the centre ground emerging through the centre ground emerging through the selection, particularly the alliance calmac party. the path this

has set is very different to the path we have just come off. min; has set is very different to the path we have just come off. path we have 'ust come off. why have thins path we have just come off. why have things shifted? _ path we have just come off. why have things shifted? it _ path we have just come off. why have things shifted? it is _ path we have just come off. why have things shifted? it is very _ path we have just come off. why have things shifted? it is very difficult - things shifted? it is very difficult to say. i things shifted? it is very difficult to sa . ~ ., �* to say. i think we have the brexit situation in _ to say. i think we have the brexit situation in northern _ to say. i think we have the brexit situation in northern ireland, - to say. i think we have the brexit| situation in northern ireland, that is somewhat of a catalyst on questions around northern ireland's constitutional future. part of the issues and the challenges and the narratives we saw going right back to the brexit referendum in 2016 have laid the foundations towards the results we have today. i think there was a sense after the 2017, 2020 political hiatus we had in northern ireland when the political institutions were not functioning, there was a sense to a certain degree that what we had before wasn't working. why not try something else? we saw that being

tested a little bit with council elections in 2019. what was known as the alliance surge has carried through and precipitated the results we have today. i through and precipitated the results we have today-— we have today. i understand the arties we have today. i understand the parties have _ we have today. i understand the parties have up _ we have today. i understand the parties have up to _ we have today. i understand the parties have up to 24 _ we have today. i understand the parties have up to 24 weeks - we have today. i understand the parties have up to 24 weeks to l we have today. i understand the i parties have up to 24 weeks to see if they can form an executive. do you expect those 24 weeks to go right down to the wire? it 50 right down to the wire? it so difficult to — right down to the wire? it so difficult to say. _ right down to the wire? it so difficult to say. the - right down to the wire? it sr difficult to say. the indications we have at this point is that it is not going to be easily solved. the perspective from the dup is very much waiting for the changes to the protocol. they have been very clear that they want to be back around a table with the rest of their executive colleagues but they will not do that until those changes have been secured. the challenge for that is that those changes can only be changed outside the parameters of what politicians in northern ireland can achieve. very much the future of

northern ireland that rests in the hand of borisjohnson and those eu discussions. i think so long as something can be achieve that can be at least branded as adequately successful enough for the democratic unionist party to say it was worthwhile, beneficialfor us unionist party to say it was worthwhile, beneficial for us to collapse the executive in february of this year, that mightjust be enough to allow things to get back to a sense of normality and the executive back up and running here. but it is very difficult to say at this stage to say how things will turn out. ~ ., this stage to say how things will turn out. ~ . ., ,., ., turn out. what might a potential chance turn out. what might a potential change look _ turn out. what might a potential change look like? _ turn out. what might a potential change look like? their - turn out. what might a potential change look like? their main - turn out. what might a potential. change look like? their main point of contention _ change look like? their main point of contention for _ change look like? their main point of contention for the _ change look like? their main point of contention for the dup - change look like? their main point of contention for the dup is - change look like? their main point| of contention for the dup is around the trade aspect of the protocol, the trade aspect of the protocol, the movement of goods from great britain into northern ireland. the consequence of that is what has become known as the irish sea

border. they have been a party arguing that it differentials two differentiates northern ireland from the rest of the united kingdom. anything that can mitigate the checks required as part of that so—called irish seaboard that would be a winner for the so—called irish seaboard that would be a winnerfor the dup. we know some of those talks are going on at the moment. i think it will only be about me stack to see progress in those broader range of areas that the dup might consider the prospect of returning to the executive. at this stage, even on a uk side of things, it is looking like slow progress in terms of negotiations with the eu. we heard up until the night of the election talk around article 16, the triggering mechanism within the protocol which means that the uk can take unilateral action to disapply very specific aspects of it. there was a rumour circulating that article 16 was potentially going to be triggered as a way to

try and motivate the eu to reach a consensus much quicker. the night before the election, we heard that wasn't going to happen. so there's a lot of mixed coming about, we don't know how things will progress. but what we do know for certain is that nothing is going to made any time soon. we nothing is going to made any time soon. ~ ., ., ~' nothing is going to made any time soon, ~ ., ., " ., soon. we have talked about the london theatre _ soon. we have talked about the london theatre in _ soon. we have talked about the london theatre in -- _ soon. we have talked about the london theatre in -- the - soon. we have talked about the - london theatre in -- the government london theatre in —— the government here in london. what about the government in the republic of ireland? i government in the republic of ireland? ~ , , ., ireland? i think probably the main focus for the _ ireland? i think probably the main focus for the republic _ ireland? i think probably the main focus for the republic of - ireland? i think probably the main focus for the republic of ireland i ireland? i think probably the mainj focus for the republic of ireland is the success of sinn fein within this election. it is a large party down south as well. of course, the core aim of that party is to achieve irish reunification. i think in the republic they will be looking very closely at the narratives developing and the conversations happening around the potential for a and the conversations happening around the potentialfor a border poll and what potential reunification might look like. really taking things discussed into

more abstract contacts and actually potentially translating them into something more real and tangible. i think probably sinn fein will be the main focus for the political parties in the republic of ireland. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers. our guests tonight are pollsterjoe twyman — director of deltapoll — and psychotherapist and broadcaster, lucy beresford. that's coming up after the weather. hello there. we'll be heading through the remainder of the weekend on a largely dry and settled note before more rain works in from the north—west by monday. for the here and now, this is how we ended saturday evening. beautiful sunset in east ayrshire there, and through the course of sunday, we're looking at another largely dry settled day with some sunny spells around just one or two isolated showers. we've got a weak weather front just trying to nudge in from the north—west, but not really making inroads because high pressure is in charge

and that's sitting out to the east. the lowest temperatures first thing sunday morning will be across eastern scotland and eastern england, mid—single figures, but further west most places starting off the dayjust about in double figures. any early morning mist and fog will lift fairly quickly and the day will warm up as the sunshine spreads across the uk, a little bit cloudier across the far north—west of the western isles, the northern isles as well. but through the day, fair—weather cloud bubbles up and that mayjust be enough to produce one or two isolated showers for wales, parts of south—west england, northern england into southern scotland. but most places are going to avoid any of those showers, temperatures in the mid teens around the east coast, but we could see 20 degrees inland. sunday evening and overnight into monday now and things remain largely dry and clear against the mist and clear again some mist and some fog patches. but you'll notice the cloud thickening from the northwest as this weather front spread some rain into northern ireland and north—west scotland to start off monday morning. mild, breezy and rather damp

in the northwest cooler, clearer conditions down towards the south—east. so monday's weather then will be dominated still by high pressure sitting out to the east. but these more active weather fronts are starting to move in from the atlantic. they're going to bring more cloud to northern ireland and scotland with outbreaks of rain really from the word go, heaviest over coasts and hills in the west, slightly more patchy further east. but much of england and wales keeping the dry weather with some sunny spells. it'll be a little bit warmer, particularly for eastern england, compared to recent days, 20—22 degrees here. but typically the mid teens across scotland and northern ireland. into tuesday and the front tends to make its way further towards the south and the east and then a return to sunny spells and scattered, blustery showers from the northwest. temperatures coming down a little bit in the south, still about 20 degrees or so. typically the mid teens across the north—west of the uk. through the week ahead, then some showers around, especially towards the north and the west. things looking drier, though, further south and east for now.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are the broadcaster and psychotherapist, lucy beresford, and the director of polling organisation, deltapoll, joe twyman. not many of tomorrow's front pages in yet but here's what we have, starting with... the observer features the historic victory in northern ireland, as sinn fein becomes the largest nationalist party in the stormont assembly for the first time. its party leaders mark the occasion with a selfie. the sunday telegraph quotes michael gove who blames the housing crisis for the loss of support for the conservative party at the local elections. the tories lost almost 500 council seats on thursday. the sunday mirror reports the duke and duchess of cambridge are set to scrap formalities including when on duty —

including curtsies, bows and even using their royal titles.