this is bbc news, the headlines: for the first time, the irish nationalist party sinn fein has won the largest number of seats in northern ireland's assembly. sinn fein wants to see the country reunited with the republic of ireland. its president said the momentum for change across the island of ireland was now well—established. ukraine and russia say a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the besieged azovstal steelworks in the city of mariupol has been completed. ukraine said that all elderly people, women and children had been taken to safety. president zelensky said they would now seek

to evacuate wounded soldiers. the taliban in afghanistan have ordered all women to veil theirfaces when in public, returning the country to the dress code enforced during their previous time in power. they recommend that women wear the all—encompassing burqa. the move has been met with dismay by women s rights campaigners. the education secretary nadhim zahawi has said the government must not be complacent after the conservatives suffered substantial losses in local elections across england, scotland and wales. the party lost almost 500 council seats, with the liberal democrats and labour making gains. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. the full picture of elections across england, scotland and wales is now clear, and the losses for the conservatives have been significant — down almost 500 councillors, ii more councils now out of tory control.

ministers say they are listening. very much around making sure we have the plan for recovery continues, that we continue to bear down on the household budget pressures. 22 billion in 12 months is what we're delivering now. we're not going to be complacent. we're going to continue to bear down on that, safer streets and, of course, the nhs backlog. labour had hoped a national backdrop of rocketing living costs and fines at the top of government for breaking lockdown rules would send voters flocking their way. cheers. the party did do well, securing symbolic victories in london and gains elsewhere. but these were tentative steps forward, rather than emphatic strides. we know we've got to rebuild trust. we had a terrible near—death experience at the last general election, so we're not taking anyone for granted. but i think what we saw in the results on thursday is a firm foundation for going on to win the next general election.

sir keir, good morning. will you resign i if you're fined... but labour's successes were overshadowed by police announcing they were now investigating leader sir keir starmer for a possible lockdown breach of his own. it's definitely been a good morning for the lib dems... i wasn't expecting that! ..who tempted traditional tory voters away to add almost 200 councillors in england. conservative support also melted away in wales, with labour profiting. and in scotland, the snp increased its support again, forcing the tories into retreat. the snp is a party 15 years into government. so it's a big vote of confidence in our leadership of scotland, both nationally and at local level. i don't take it for granted, though. people want to see us deliver now. the reason we keep winning elections is because we work really hard, at elections, between elections, to deliver for scotland. votes are counted and the verdicts are in. it's only a snapshot but for all parties, plenty to chew over. leila nathoo, bbc news.

now on bbc news, our world. axie infinity is a hugely popular online game in which players breed, battle and trade fantasy creatures. but for many people, it's now much more than that. around the world, a new type of worker is emerging. they make big profits for companies, but rarely leave home or break into a sweat. they generate millions playing a new breed of online video game. for me, it comes as a blessing.

in a virtual world where work and play are one and the same. could this be our future in the metaverse? the philippines has been hit by its deepest recession since records began.

dom rescued his family by playing an online video game called axie infinity. with millions of others, he earns money breeding and battling fantasy fairy creatures called axies in their digital universe, lunacia. in his first month he doubled the money he made in his previous job as an accountant.

to play, you must form a team of three axies. you then do battle, and if you win, you are rewarded an in—game currency called smooth love potion. when you have enough, you use it to breed more axie fighters. to make hard cash, you can sell your love potion and axies on online exchanges. but before you can make a cent, you must first buy your axie team from the game's owners, sky mavis. this can cost hundreds of dollars, more than most can afford. i'm kookoo, and i became a millionaire from from playing a video game. but kookoo tv is here to help. a lot of people are cheering and shouting my name.

he recruits players to the game. he works with the ygg, a group of investors who buy axies and rent them to players. we onboard players all over the place.

eventually they earn their own axies. the game has given him wealth and fame. you are providing opportunities. seeing the results, for example, from the parents who are buying milk or paying their bills from their earnings makes us so happy. and when a typhoon struck in 2021, kookoo tv and the guild stepped in. that is actually my vitamins to keep positive, keep energetic and also do not think about what i am doing. i think that is my compensation. that is my reward for helping people.

this man was signed up to be a scholar. he needed to replace money from his ailing holiday lets business. he is one of kookoo tv�*s most ambitious players. but recently, axie players were rocked by crisis. it has been quiet for too long. slp has been going down

and down and down. smooth love potion was hit by inflation, wiping out nearly its entire value. many scholars refused to produce love potion and were sacked or left the game. however, others, like kooya kevs and dom, remained loyal. for me, it comes as a blessing. and now he is doing his part to recruit players to the guild

to work in the axie economy. this is gail, dom's sister.

kooya kevs has enlisted his own brother to work as a scholar for the guild. so it is a win—win situation for us. kabee is unable to get a job using his computer science degree.

but his axie earnings have taken a nosedive and kooya kevs must rely on side hustles to pay the bills. however, axie infinity is still worth over $2 billion and remains one of the most popular play—to—earn games in the world. its success is down to its ingenious design that

has transformed everything in the game into a financial asset that can be owned and bought and sold. every bouncing axie is, in fact, a non—fungible token, or nft, a unique piece of digital data that represents ownership and value. stop and every drop of smooth love potion is actually a unit of crypto currency, or digital money. both exist on a blockchain, an online ledger that is stored on computers around the world and is protected by powerful cryptography. making axies and love potions digital assets that can be owned and traded incentivises players to invest their time and money into the game. and, as they are exchangeable assets, axies and love potion can be traded for other crypto and traditional currencies, such as dollars. every time this is done

by its millions of players the game's owners charge a fee, turning play into a highly efficient way of making profits. many think that the fusion of play and work in virtual economies like axie infinity is ourfuture... ..and a new business opportunity for the philippines. other countries have silicon valley. in korea there is samsung. in vietnam a lot of people are creating new technology. so in the philippines we want to be known as the centre of the play—to—earn concept. it changed the narrative that philippines is notjust for call centres or 0fws.

now we are becoming the centre of the play—to—earn metaverse games. by 2018, venezuela's economic crisis pushed nearly 90% of its citizens into poverty. and forfirst—time dad miguel margo, scarcity became a way of life. with hyperinflation rampant, alongside millions of others, miguel tried to escape his misery abroad.

he hitched and walked 2,000 kilometres to peru, but was unable to make a living. but on his return to venezuela, he discovered the axie promise. venezuela's government has even set up its own axie academy, to give people like ana a way of surviving and to earn

cryptocurrency for itself. but until recently, the regime saw the game as a threat. however, for miguel, doubts crept in when he realised the axie economy is no more stable than venezuela's.

it made him question the whole idea of play—to—earn gaming. some even think that axie is a form of digital piecework, but done when you think you're playing.

and what use is an axie asset if there is no axie game? so he turned to another job to survive. miguel is a very efficient assassin in his home town.

he grinds away up to 15 hours a day playing an online video game called old school runescape. although never intended to be a way for players to make money, today, many venezuelans rely on it to survive. miguel does this for wealthy, mostly foreign players, who pay him to boost their avatars�* status in the game. he completes missions, defeating monsters and other players in battle, and collects valuable items such as armour, weapons and gold that can be

sold to other players. and runescape is much better suited to miguel�*s world than axie infinity. venezuelans endure constant power blackouts, high data costs and low—grade computer hardware supplied by the government. but this is no problem for runescape, which uses simple, old—fashioned graphics to please its nostalgic players.

miguel works long hours to provide for his son. but playing is taking its toll.

however, runescape is much more than just work for miguel. a better way to escape...

..with one catch. even though runescape, a game madejust for having fun, is a safer bet than axie infinity, miguel knows he can take nothing for granted.

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. a weak weather front�*s trying to nudge in from the north—west, but not really making inroads because high pressure�*s in charge and that's sitting out 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 day just 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 cloudier

across the far north—west of the western isles, the northern isles as well. but through the day, fairweather 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 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, things remain largely dry and clear — again some mist and fog patches. but you'll notice the cloud thickening from the northwest as this weather front spreads 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 dominated still by high pressure sitting out to the east. but these more active weather fronts start to move in from the atlantic. they're going to bring more cloud to northern ireland and scotland with outbreaks of rain 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 warmer, particularly for eastern england, compared to recent days — 20—22 degrees here. but typically mid—teens across scotland and northern ireland. into tuesday, and the front tends to make its way further towards the south and 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. bye for now.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm chris rogers. our top stories: final results are declared in northern ireland's assembly election — with an historic win for the irish nationalist party — sinn fein. today ushers in a new era which i believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in our society. ukraine says all women, children and the elderly have now been evacuated from azovstal steel plant in the city of mariupol. hong kong prepares to elect a new leader — albeit with not many voters — and only one candidate. rights in afghanistan come underfresh attack —

the taliban order women to wear the full face veil.