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. rights in afghanistan come underfresh attack — the taliban order women to wear the full face veil. today, they decreed that all women must cover their places with a veil in public and they laid out an escalating series of punishments for any

woman not complying. hong kong prepares to elect a new leader — although there are hardly any voters — and only one candidate. as sinn fein celebrates its historic victory in the northern ireland assembly elections, the united states has called on all leaders there to form a new power—sharing executive as soon as possible. although sinn fein can now nominate a first minister, they can't take up the office unless the dup, the biggest party from the unionist bloc, agrees to nominate a deputy first minister. 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 social justice. 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 in the 1980s had members elected as mps,

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 a 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. i 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 a 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 women, both of whom have no connection to that sort of previous past. but sinn fein�*s successes a 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. i've been speaking to niall carson, who's a photo journalist with the press association. i asked what this election means for northern ireland, and also for the republic of ireland, south of the border. it is very interesting

because it could be here in the southern parliaments because sinn fein are riding very high in the polls at the minute here, higher than the government, the two government parties. there is not an election due for another three years but definitely it is causing a bit of a stir anyway, bit of a debate about the prospect of a referendum, you know. how did you view the voting that took place in northern ireland 7 is this unionist sending a very strong message as well or are people beginning to vote about other things? is this about voting for the right on the left, perhaps? voting for various policies on this about the politics. yes, there is a bit of that.

northern ireland has never really had the left right divide that you see in, for instance, america. elections have always been on the constitutional question but as younger people who grew up not involved in the trouble is, a lot more of them are voting for centrist parties like the alliance party who don't designate themselves unionist or nationalists and they have come out as the third block in this election that is going to make a very interesting make up to the northern ireland assembly if it does get up and running again, as there will be different priorities and there won't be as much squabbling between the two main parties because there will be a third block now to kind of mediate and that is the way it is in a lot of our local councils and a lot have the casting vote and decisions get made which were blocked for years.

what you think will happen in the coming ukraine and russia say a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the besieged azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of mariupol has been completed. ukraine said that all elderly people, women and children had been taken to safety, a total of more than 300 people. their departure comes after heavy russian bombardment of the plant in recent weeks. it is the longest siege of the war. 0n four weeks, the steel plant in marie has been a priority target for russia as it takes aim of the battalion holding out there. according to

pat ukraine and russia finally a glimmer of hope. all women, children and elderly taking shelter in its dark bunkers and tunnels have finally been evacuated. this adds to the thousands of other residents who have already fled. we were survivin: who have already fled. we were surviving on _ who have already fled. we were surviving on the _ who have already fled. we were surviving on the first _ who have already fled. we were surviving on the first time. - surviving on the first time. for two weeks, we have been living in a basement then russians came and helped us leave. then we heard about an evacuation and we came to the mall in mariupol and got on this bus. the children were sitting in a basement for two weeks without water, bread, nothing. it weeks without water, bread, nothinu. , ., , ., ., nothing. it is a milestone for the united — nothing. it is a milestone for the united nations— nothing. it is a milestone for the united nations and - nothing. it is a milestone for the united nations and the l nothing. it is a milestone for. the united nations and the red cross. given how many evacuations have failed in recent weeks. when mariupol will still be a prime battleground for the war. as capturing it, is one of russia's main goals. more than 90% of the port city has been pummelled by rockets, missiles and other artillery.—

and other artillery. without doubt, and other artillery. without doubt. we _ and other artillery. without doubt, we work _ and other artillery. without doubt, we work on - and other artillery. without doubt, we work on getting | and other artillery. without i doubt, we work on getting out our military. all the heroes who defend mariupol. it is very difficult but important. i'm sure everybody understands the reason for the difficulty and where there is reason for size. but we don't give up hope. we don't stop. we keep looking for such a diplomatic solution which could work.- such a diplomatic solution which could work. with about 2000 ukrainian _ which could work. with about 2000 ukrainian fighters - which could work. with about i 2000 ukrainian fighters thought to still be in the plant, vowing to defend their city, the for ukraine's government is how to help them. the for ukraine's government is how to help them. in afghanistan, the taliban have ordered women to cover their faces with a veil when in public, warning that if they don't, 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. 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.

you're watching bbc news — a reminder of the headlines. final results are declared in northern ireland's assembly election — with an historic win for the irish nationalist party — sinn fein. ukraine says all women, children and the elderly have now been evacuated from azovstal steel plant in the city of mariupol. and staying with ukraine. liam collins is a retired us army colonel and special forces officer. he worked with ukraine to reform its military after russia annexed crimea. i asked him how well ukrainian soldiers are doing — or if the real question is, how badly the russian army is faring. it is both, right. ukrainians are performing very well and is expected based on their effort to be from the military after its poor performance back in 2014, it is a story of utter ineptness from the russians ofjust not performing. they don't

have a well—led army. years of corruption by the generals. they are not well trained and they are underperforming and that is something they can't turn around in a matter of mariupol has reminded an awful lot of people of aleppo in syria and what was left of that. russian bombers were involved in that. is this russia's tactic? will we see more and more obliteration of cities and towns across ukraine or is he changing his tactics? no. you will see continued russian bombing. that is part of war in cities and it is not unusual in anywhere from 80—90% of buildings to be damaged or destroyed, and that is how russia operates but there are still a handful of fighters that are going to hold out, so russia does not have mariupol yet, despite what they are claiming and what they

might try to claim on victory day. it will be over the hard fight to get those fighters out of there. a tough challenge. joe biden this promising more support and military support. he's been talking about this land lease bill. we saw something similar at the end of world war ii. is that all ukrainians, do you think? to keep russia off ukrainian soil or as much of it as possible? yes. i mean, two things, right? despite them doing so well, they are losing weapon systems and the need to replace those weapon systems. they are facing a much larger russian military despite them being much better so as long as they can replace those weapon systems and get new capabilities to be able to defend against russia. they're really pushing the russians back out to the point where the russians are pulling out to prevent ukrainian counterattack and pushing them to the border so it is a big hit on the training economy.

they are fighting a war. the economy is not able to produce severe so that they need the support from the us and other nations. you worked extensively with ukraine and brought in some substantial forms to its military after russia annexed crimea. how do you think the performances right now? we have seen a lot of cities and towns fold but they have got a lot of them back, haven't they? they have been performing very well. they are a much smaller force. the entire military is 200,000. they couldn't defend the entire border. it is the 2000 mile border with belarus and russia. at the onset of the more they not defend at the border. it is not possible. so they concentrated on the major objectives. kyiv and other cities and the push the russians away from capital

and now they're doing the same thing. that was the goal all along and they're fighting it if very well. defend what they have to be smart with counterattacks and continue to push russia back. we will see the ukrainians being more successful with counterattacks as they are able to get these weapon systems. therea re so many refugees in european countries at the moment along the border of ukraine. theyjust want to go home. they just want peace. they don't want war. how long to think their wait is going to be? in your experience of conflict, is this going to be like guerrilla warfare that just goes on with street fighting for months if not years or is there an endgame coming? no, i mean, ukraine will not concede territory. that will be guerrilla territory until the russians give up that territory or the ukrainians counterattack and are able to take it back.

it is going to be a long fight and the war probably won't go on as long as the decade but in the donbas that lasted eight years and ukraine did not get it back so unfortunately it will last longer than most people think. a pro—bejing election committee in hong kong is choosing a new city leader — and we already know the result — asjohn lee, a former deputy head of police, is the only candidate. the current leader, carrie, oversaw the implementation of a controversial national security law that led to massive protests against the territory's government in 2019. earlier i wasjoined by journalist ilaria maria sala. i asked her how the election is being received by the public in hong kong. a it is not for the proper to call it an election because, as you mention, there is only one candidate and very few voters. the committee of 1500 people, a little less, is going to choose to approve this choice. that has already been pre—made.

so if you have the police have decided to put out a lot of security, we are hearing about 7000 police men and women are out in force to make sure that nothing untoward happens. the mood in hong kong is of a certain degree of indifference because there is absolutely no say in this exercise. do you think we are, despite the police presence, likely to see anger over the selection if we can call it. do you think that anger is likely to spill out on the streets like we saw in 2019? i think that is extremely unlikely. hong kong is a very different place from 2019. there has been no demonstration

since then were either approved or even mass demonstrations partially because it is legal and anti—covert sanitary measures and since the enactment of the national security law onjune 30, 2020 this kind of demonstrations have been made largely illegal. also there has been a strong loss of faith if you want to call it that, in power of street demonstrations to actually get the leadership to start a dialogue with the population so i really think this is not going to happen today, there are not going to be protests.

the former brazilian president, luiz inacio lula da silva, has launched his campaign to return to power in 0ctober�*s election. in an address to supporters, the left—wing leader urged brazilians to unite behind him to defend democracy and defeat the right—wing incumbent. we have in the past told you about the somewhat unusual sport of wife—carrying. some say it dates back to the age of the vikings — while in modern times it's mostly been popular in finland. but now wife—carrying has gone international. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. this may be an ancient tradition going back more than ten centuries, or it mayjust be a practicaljoke that originated somewhere near helsinki. either way, wife carrying has its fans. you don't actually have to tie the knot to take part but whatever

your marital status, it is supposed to be good for team building. i think the big interest is due to the fact that couples can leave their comfort zone. they�* re very close to each other, so husband and wife can function as a unit. here in hungary contestants race along a 260 metre course with both obstacles and water hazards. some carry the product piggyback. 0thers try what is termed the estonian method, only the so—called wife is upside down. that does come with some issues. i think it is a lot more uncomfortable for my partner because the weight is on my shoulder it is easy for me to run said this competitor. what is your tactic for when your head goes underwater? take a deep breath, she replies. wife carrying is not

without its critics. some say it is old—fashioned or even sexist. but for the winners this could be the beginning of something beautiful. let's continue the racing theme now, with one of the biggest upsets in the history of america's most celebrated horse race. rich strike, ridden by sonny leon , stormed to victory at churchill downs in louisville, to win the kentucky derby, despite being the eighty—to—one rank outsider. the horse was only brought into the field on friday after another had to drop out. a reminder of our top story. 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. 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 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 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 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.

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.