as the democratic unionist party is set to block the power—sharing assembly from operating. the party has been protesting about post—brexit trading arrangements which keep northern ireland as part of the eu single market. i believe that we need to send a very clear message to the european union and to our government that we are serious about getting this protocol sorted out. sinn fein say the dup's decision will punish the public. we'll have all the latest from stormont. also this lunchtime... the government wants to cut 91,000 civil servicejobs — a fifth of the total workforce — to save money. unions say it's ill—thought—out. ukrainian forces destroy nearly all the armoured vehicles of a russian battalion trying to cross a river in the east of the country.

podcaster and cancer campaigner deborahjames is made a dame. # up in space, man # whoa, yeah... # i've searched around the universe # been down some black holes and something strange is going on at eurovision — bookmakers are predicting a good result for the uk. and coming up on the bbc news channel... after a boxing career that began with an olympic medal atjust 17, amir khan announces his retirement, saying it's time to hang up his gloves. good afternoon and welcome to the programme. the democratic unionist party

will not agree to the election of a new stormont speaker today, its leader sirjeffrey donaldson has said. without the election of a speaker there can be no functioning assembly. the dup has been protesting against post—brexit trading arrangements which keep northern ireland as part of the eu single market for goods. last week's vote saw the nationalist sinn fein become the largest party at stormont. today they've accused the dup of holding the public to ransom. charlotte gallagher reports from belfast. today is supposed to be about getting back to business. instead there will be little business at all. the dup's announcement that it won't vote for a new stormont speaker means the assembly will effectively lie dormant. the leader of the dup, sirjeffrey donaldson, says the northern ireland protocol has left him with little choice. we are serious about getting this

protocol sorted out. because of the harm it is doing, undermining political stability, damaging the agreements that have formed the basis of the political progress made in northern ireland, harming our economy, contributing to the cost of living crisis. this matter needs to be dealt with. but for sinn fein, now the largest party in stormont, it's an insult to voters, with michelle 0'neill saying the assembly should be forming an executive to put money in people's pockets and fix our health service. the dup has confirmed they will punish the public and not turn up. they are disgracefully holding the public to ransom over their brexit mess. if stormont isn't functioning, it means issues like the cost of living, the energy crisis and health aren't being tackled. we've had experience of that before, as you know. for three years. and the impact is the difficulties in

making really difficult decisions on how to reconfigure and change our health service in northern ireland, and also how to establish long—term budgets and long—term funding to bring about those significant changes. for the dup, though, the northern ireland protocol is a red line, in particular the checks made on some goods travelling from the rest of the uk to northern ireland. this is why they are happening. when we left the eu, it was agreed that goods arriving in northern ireland from the rest of the uk would be monitored to make sure they met eu standards. that's because northern ireland shares a land border with eu member ireland, and an open border between ireland and northern ireland is seen as an essential part of the peace process. the dup and borisjohnson want significant changes to the protocol. but the irish foreign minister, simon coveney, says the uk knew what it was signing up to.

i think the eu has been trying to show flexibility for the last 12 months now, but it's never enough for the british government, at least so far. we spoke for a0 minutes last night after he spoke to secretary liz truss yesterday, and again we were talking about how to accommodate legitimate concerns within the unionist community within northern ireland. today undoubtedly puts more pressure on the uk government and the eu, because the dup you say you can't have a functioning stormont and the northern ireland protocol. charlotte gallagher, bbc news, belfast. let's get more from our ireland correspondent, chris page. what's the solution to this deadlock? at various times in the past, when critical crises here at stormont

have reached a crunch point, something unexpected has happened which has rescued everything, brought people back from the brink and provided a breakthrough. i really don't think this will be one of those occasions. the democratic unionist party is insistent it will stick to its position that there can't be a power—sharing devolved government or a power—sharing assembly here while the northern ireland protocol, that trade barrier with the rest of the uk, continues in its present form. so for the last hour assembly members have been signing the register, whenever they come back after lunch time they will sit down in their seats and then proceedings will move to the election of a speaker. the dup, though, will prevent that from happening. it will be a very short sitting of the politicians will rise again not knowing when they will be able to come back into the assembly chamber. if there had been a speaker elected, then there could have been more debates, individual members could have brought forward individual pieces of legislation,

there could be committee hearings. all of that will now not be possible. instead we have a deepening sense of deadlock with no real deadline. ichris deepening sense of deadlock with no real deadline.— real deadline. chris page at stormont. _ real deadline. chris page at stormont, thank _ real deadline. chris page at stormont, thank you. - borisjohnson has told his cabinet to cut up to 91,000 civil service jobs to free up cash for measures to ease the cost of living. it amounts to a fifth of the current workforce. the prime minister wants to reduce staffing levels to where they were in 2016. he described a suggested saving of £3.75 billion a year as "realistic". but a civil service union called the plan "ill—thought—out" and warned it could affect services. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. jobs, jobs, jobs is the answer. that's his solution when it comes to the cost of living. but the prime minister now says the government employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil service jobs employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil servicejobs in employs too many people. he wants to cut 90,000 civil service jobs in the next three years and has told ministers to draw up plans within weeks. ., , ., ., ,

ministers to draw up plans within weeks. ., ,., ., ,, weeks. you should always spend taxa ers weeks. you should always spend taxpayers money _ weeks. you should always spend taxpayers money as _ weeks. you should always spend taxpayers money as efficiently i weeks. you should always spend | taxpayers money as efficiently as possible — taxpayers money as efficiently as possible. governments have no money of their_ possible. governments have no money of their own. _ possible. governments have no money of their own, it is only money taken from _ of their own, it is only money taken from hard—working taxpayers who provide _ from hard—working taxpayers who provide the funds that the state expense — provide the funds that the state expense. but during an issue with the cost _ expense. but during an issue with the cost of— expense. but during an issue with the cost of living, and with inflation, _ the cost of living, and with inflation, you need to have control of budgets — inflation, you need to have control of budgete— inflation, you need to have control ofbuduets. , . , �*, of budgets. this man is the uk's top civil servant. — of budgets. this man is the uk's top civil servant, simon _ of budgets. this man is the uk's top civil servant, simon case _ of budgets. this man is the uk's top civil servant, simon case and - of budgets. this man is the uk's top civil servant, simon case and he - civil servant, simon case and he wrote to government departments last night telling them the size of the civil service workforce has grown substantially since 2016. he wants to return to 2016 levels. he adds that this will be challenging but tells departments it will need imagination. there could be a freeze on recruitment across the civil service. ministers would have to approve any newjobs. downing street hopes that enough people will leave to bring numbers down but redundancies haven't been ruled out. according to the institute for government, these are the biggest employers. work and pensions, justice, the taxman, covering almost

70% of civil servants. but these aren't alljustjobs in whitehall. they also cover things like the delivery of benefits, in job centres around the uk. unions sayjob cuts will mean cuts to services too, and they are threatening strike action. the government has said to the civil service, here is extra work, and the numbers of staff have increased to do with that extra work. so if you want to cut back to some arbitrary number you need to say, we can't undo brexit and we can't undo covid so what else will we cut? i think that's the difficulty.— that's the difficulty. downing street says _ that's the difficulty. downing street says this _ that's the difficulty. downing street says this is _ that's the difficulty. downing street says this is not - that's the difficulty. downing street says this is not an - street says this is not an ideological decision, it's about good housekeeping. but it is highly controversial and details on how the cuts will work are far from clear. studio: and nick eardleyjoins us from westminster. what's behind this? its, from westminster. what's behind this? . ., , from westminster. what's behind this? ., , , ., , , this? a really good question because the government _ this? a really good question because the government has _ this? a really good question because the government has had _ this? a really good question because the government has had some - this? a really good question because the government has had some high l the government has had some high profile battles with the civil service in the past. but number ten is insisting this morning that that

is insisting this morning that that is not what this is about. this is about trying to make sure at a time when everyone is cutting costs because of the cost of living crisis, the government is doing the same, that it's trying to get its bills down. and that's why the prime minister has givenjust bills down. and that's why the prime minister has given just a few weeks for ministers to come up with specific proposals about how this will work. it is also worth bearing in mind that this will not be straightforward. we don't know exactly how it will work. different departments have different priorities and it's not completely clear where the axe will fall when it comes to those 90,000 jobs. let's remember the big picture here as well. this is a government that said it wanted to cut taxes. if it's going to do that before the next election it needs to find some cost savings in government and this is one of those proposals and downing street is adamant it will happen.

nick eardley in westminster, thank you. new british intelligence suggests russia's advance in eastern ukraine is faltering. little progress is being made in the donbas region and ukrainian troops have reportedly fought off an attempted river crossing by a russian battalion, seeing it lose almost all of its armoured vehicles. the mod says the russian operation was "highly risky" and shows its commanders are under pressure to advance. speaking at a g7 meeting in germany, the foreign secretary liz truss said president putin was "humiliating himself on the world stage". joe inwood reports from ukraine. it was a gamble that seems to have backfired spectacularly. this russian column was trying to cross the river siverskyi donets, flanking ukrainian positions. it seems they knew they were coming. massive artillery barrages took out what appears to be an entire battalion tactical group. more than 70 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and trucks, not to mention bridging teams. this footage was all released by the ukrainian military. whereas this was released

by the russians on the very same day, showing what they say was a successful operation by their forces. there is a propaganda war in full swing here. a battle for who controls the narrative. it's not just it's notjust the physical war both sides are trying to declare victories in. as the british foreign secretary accused him of humiliating himself, president putin claimed the international sanctions were failing. translation: the economic sanctions, which are guided l by short—sightedness, inflated political ambitions and by russophobia, deal a much harder blow to their author's own national interests, their own economies and the well—being their own citizens. but it's notjust sanctions that the west is using to target moscow. they are also providing ukrainians with heavy weaponry, and it is making a difference. the russians have tried to stop it with targeted strikes, in places like lviv, but it seems it's still getting through. and today, the ukrainian foreign minister has asked for more.

but there is no hope that any weapons will get to mariupol, where it seems the fighters are making a final stand. they released this footage showing what appears to be a counterattack on russian positions. there is little prospect for them to be rescued, but it seems they are determined not to go down without a fight. joe inwood, bbc news, lviv. since the start of the war, hundreds of children fleeing ukraine have been enrolled in schools across the uk. school leaders have welcomed the arrival of the new pupils but say extra counselling and language tuition is needed to help support them. 0ur education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. marharyta arrived in manchester a month ago with her family. she couldn't speak any english. eyes. she's keen to learn. lip. like many children, she had to leave behind so much that she loved. ah, beautiful face. marharyta has just been offered a place at a local primary school,

and it can't come soon enough. war has taken its toll on young lives. those things which ukrainian children saw... ..i don't believe, um, that it will be without any traumas. this is what childhood should be. nine—year—old alisa is from a city in the south of ukraine which is close to intense fighting. she's just started at st martin's church of england primary in norfolk. alisa speaks very little english, but her new friend poppy is determined to make her feel as welcome as possible. do you understand each other? sometimes. ijust point at her and do a thumbs up. i've written a poem for alisa. it was about the war, and in the end i said, "we are your friends

and you are safe here." it's been lovely having alisa here. it's been really good for the class to kind of rally together. we're starting to see smiles and laughter and communicating and joking with her friends. of course, at first we weren't seeing that. we are now, and that is telling us that she is feeling welcome and enjoying her time in school. label it with your ruler and write the word... the department for education says it's working closely with local authorities to understand the costs of supporting children from ukraine. many councils are offering additional help with english. and children who arrive here on the homes for ukraine scheme will receive a grant for a school uniform. but one of the biggest challenges is emotional support. for now, marharyta attends saturday school at the ukrainian centre in manchester. the war has taken so much, but marharyta still has her dreams.

she said, "mama, i need to be very good in school, because i want to be doctor." and i said, "it's not so difficult, if it's your dream." elaine dunkley, bbc news. the time is 13:16. our top story this lunchtime: the deadlock in stormont continues — the democratic unionist party is set to block the formation of a power—sharing government over post—brexit trading arrangements. coleen rooney has taken the stand on day four of the rebekah vardy libel trial. we'll get the latest from the high court. coming up on the bbc news channel: ten years on from the moment he says is the best of his life, sergio aguero meets the statue that commemorates his famous title—winning goal for manchester city.

deborahjames — whose bbc podcast, you, me and the big c, has charted her treatment for bowel cancer — has raised more than £a million since she revealed she's receiving end—of—life care. in recognition of her campaigning and fundraising, she is to be honoured with a damehood. simonjones reports. surrounded by her loving family, deborahjames determined to enjoy every moment she can with them. and now, they'll be able to call her dame deborah. 0n social media, she wrote a simple message, "damehood conferred", telling the bbc she was blown away. # and i'll rise up # i'll rise like the day # i'll rise up...# she's been recognised for her positivity and honesty in sharing her experience of bowel cancer over the past five years. and in the past five days, since she announced she was stopping treatment, she's raised more than £a million to fund research and raise awareness.

i like winding up my oncologist. her podcast — you, me and the big c — has been credited with helping so many people with the disease. she just sent me a picture of one of the front pages of the newspapers with, you know, "dame debs" on it. and, oh, just... yeah, just what a moment. it'sjust amazing. she's over the moon, and all the family are. it's given them such a massive boost, ithink, to see, you know, just how much people adore her. the prime minister said, "if ever an honour was richly deserved, this is it. deborah has been an inspiration and her honesty, warmth and courage has been a source of strength to so many people." she spoke to the bbc earlier this week. i have a really loving family who i adore and couldn't... honestly, like... they're just incredible. # there were night of endless pleasure...# but with the award of a damehood, the nation is marking deborah's incredible life, as it draws to a close. # baby, baby, baby...#

simonjones, bbc news. the queen has made an appearance at the royal windsor horse show. her majesty, who's 96, was driven to the grounds to watch her horses in the parade ring. she appeared to be in good spirits. after missing the state opening of parliament earlier this week, there had been speculation that she would not attend the annual event. more than half—a—million elderly and disabled adults in england are now waiting for social care, according to the body that runs local authority care. it's up by almost two thirds on last year. ministers say they're investing billions of pounds in the care system. but the association of directors of adult social services say there's a growing shortage of care workers, made worse by low pay—rates and the cost—of—living crisis. here's our social affairs editor, alison holt. hello! are you all right? this is one of the four care visits a day that ralph and pat rely on. you had a nice morning, ralph? he has parkinson's, and they wouldn't cope

in their own home near redcar without this support. you rely on your carers to look after him properly, don't you? you know? 50~ ~~ - i mean, it's something i couldn't do. i can't handle him at all. there'll be time to look after myself now. just the two tablets this afternoon, ralph, all right? but today's research by council bosses says an increasing number of people who are older or disabled are having to wait for care services like this. one reason is a shortage of care staff. right, we'll pop your chair up a bit. both sadie and karen love what they do, but understand why — with the cost of living rising — some don't want to do a job that, in their case, pays less than £10 an hour. that's it. a little bit more, ralph. mostly, it's to do with pay. people with families, or trying to get on the housing ladder, with the cost of living, they just can't afford to be in a job like this, because it doesn't pay enough for them to be able to live as well.

i think care workers should be paid more for doing, because we don'tjust go in and make cups of teas, what people think we do. we actually go in and we turn people's lives around. according to the directors who run council care services in england, last september, an estimated 29a,000 people were waiting for assessment, reviews or care from local authorities. by the end of february this year, that number had risen to more than 500,000. care leaders say councils need extra money urgently — to meet growing demand and pay those providing care more. we need urgent action to address unmet need. we need more money into social care sooner. we can't afford for social care to be an afterthought... and, er... ..because thatjust creates this vicious cycle, where people deteriorate and need more help, more health and care. and it's family carers like tania who feel the strain when it's hard to get help. lee is 37. he's quadriplegic and he has

multiple and complex disabilities. lee requires 24—hour care, really. and so, that's provided — the majority of it is provided by me and his dad, briah — and then we have paid carers. one of their care workers left injanuary, because she needed to earn more money. tania manages lee's care, which is nhs—funded, and she's had just four applications for thejob. none were suitable. are you going to talk to me, lee? are you? — it makes it really difficult because i have my own health needs, which makes physically caring for lee difficult because it causes me a lot of pain. my husband is self—employed because he needs to be accessible and available if i need to call him to come and help with lee. one step. but at the end of the day, he's our son so, you know, we'll do what lee needs. tania has little confidence

they will find the help they need any time soon. the government says reforming the care system is a priority, and that it's investing billions of pounds in improving the way it works for families and staff. alison holt, bbc news. covid—19 infections in the uk have fallen to the lowest level since mid—december, according to new data from the office for national statistics. across the uk, 1.5 million people in private households are estimated to have had the virus in the week to may 7th, down from 2 million the previous week. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, is with me. hugh, does this mean covid is now less of a problem? well, in some ways, yes. the 0ns survey, i should say, is the best guide to the underlying picture because it involves regular testing of households, it doesn't rely on people testing themselves and then sending in the results which is the daily figure which has become a lot more volatile. so as you say, 1.a8

million people had the virus last week in the uk, that was down 2a%, thatis week in the uk, that was down 2a%, that is the same sort of rate of decline we have seen in previous weeks. so heading down quite rapidly. the peak in late march was nearly 5 million. and this is the lowest level since mid december. in northern ireland, it is the lowest since mid—november. now, that is all pointing in the right direction and hospital numbers have certainly fallen. but there is always the possibility of a new variant and experts are watching for that. no sign at the moment. there are possibilities of more sub—variants of 0micron which might start spreading more rapidly, but so far, so good. the immunosuppressed are more vulnerable and charities representing them are saying it is still a worry for people going out and they feel a bit neglected and a bit forgotten in this debate about living with covid.— living with covid. thank you very

much. south korea has offered to send covid vaccines to north korea, which has confirmed its first death from the virus. it's not yet clear whether pyongyang will accept. it's previously rejected such offers. north korea only admitted coronavirus had entered the country at all for the first time yesterday. it now says six people have died after developing a fever, with one of them confirmed as having covid. as nimes as ari ratcliffe has met in downing street with the prime minister. —— nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. she was released in march after the uk agreed to settle £a00 million debt with tehran dating from 1979. a spokesman for the prime minister said the meeting was an opportunity for gary ratcliffe to discuss her ordeal. —— for nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe to discuss her ordeal. in the past hour, coleen rooney has taken the stand at the high court in london. she is being sued for libel

by rebekah vardy, after rooney accused vardy of selling private stories to newspapers. 0ur correspondent colin paterson is at court. what's been happening this morning? well, it is lunch on day four of the seven day trial so to use a football analogy, it is half an hour ago, coleen rooney took to this stand and she was cross examined by rebekah vardy�*s barrister. she referred to the post in october 2019 in which she made the accusations of rebekah vardy being the leak as her last result, saying she wanted private information about her in the newspapers to stop. she said she was the surprise by the amount of reaction there had been to the post and by the end of that day, she had received a letter from and by the end of that day, she had received a letterfrom rebekah vardy�*s legal team. coleen rooney denied putting up that post in the hope that rebekah vardy would be abused and she said the reason she had not asked people to stop trolling rebekah vardy was because she didn't want to do anything unless instructed to by her legal team. earlier in the day, rebekah vardy had been in the witness box

giving herfinal pieces vardy had been in the witness box giving her final pieces of evidence and for the third day in a row, she cried, saying that having answered questions for four days, it had left her feeling questions for four days, it had left herfeeling bullied questions for four days, it had left her feeling bullied and questions for four days, it had left herfeeling bullied and manipulated. and that the reason she had taken this case to the got was because she had not done anything wrong and she wanted to clear her name for herself and for her children. —— this case to the court. and for her children. -- this case to the court-— the world's most—watched music competition takes place tomorrow. yes, the eurovision grand final is upon us once again and, unusually, the uk entry is among the favourites to win. sam ryder will perform his song space man in front of 200 million tv viewers, and he's hoping to break britain's losing streak. 0ur media and arts correspondent, david sillito, reports from turin. # i've searched around the universe # been down some black holes # there's nothing but space, man...# sam ryder and space man. after years of disappointment, finally, a uk song that's creating a eurovision buzz.

where we sat down to chat, fans began to gather. no—one here is expecting another nul points. you have had such terrible years! i felt it was so terrible last year when they said, "zero". two—and—a—half years ago, december 2019, where was your singing career? i did a little bit of everything. i was a labourer, a dogsbody, basically. so, december2019, yourjob is a labourer? yeah. #my mind...# what changed his life... # ..so give me a sign...# ..was this tiktok video. # ..hit me, baby, one more time...# so, january 2020... yep, i shared my first video of me singing in my mum's kitchen, singing britney spears's ...baby one more time, as high as i could, and i thought nothing of it because i went to bed that night and just thought, "that was funny". and, erm, woke up, 2 million people had seen it. my mum was absolutely, like, scared to death that the kitchen was untidy, but it was spotless. the first day,

you had 2 million views? yeah. yeah, yeah. # if i was an astronaut i'd be floating in mid—air...# and two years on, the lockdown tiktok star's space man was picked for eurovision. # ..i would be the centre of my lonely universe...# did you have any doubts about eurovision? yeah, but they were all made by me, so i could turn them off. like, as soon as i got the offer, my heart, as a fan, was like, "yes! i want to do it." and then, a split second later — because this is how the human brain works for all of us — you get the, "yeah, but what if you get nul points?" he laughs here we are, i've got eurovision odds here, where are we doing now? you're number two. i mean, look, it's so cool, but it's not... i don't want to, erm... i don't know, like, believe it too much. no, don't. don't do it. it'sjust a number... forget it, forget it, forget it. yeah, absolutely. ..and numbers aren't the game... now, let's stop there. no—one wants to jinx anything.

and of course, the odds—on favourites are ukraine, but... # there's nothing but space, man...# ..sam could spring a surprise. # ..and i wanna go # home #. however, you have to remember that the odds—on favourites, way out ahead of everybody else, is ukraine. however, we are also at the moment today of thejury however, we are also at the moment today of the jury final, they get to see the show before the rest of the world. and the question is, will they be swayed by the emotion of the moment, will theyjust be listening to the song? sam ryder definitely in with a chance and if i was going to put a bet on it, maybe, just maybe, there is a chance. not sure you can get an 0dsonne may be, but thanks very much. david sillito, turin.

time for a look at the weather.