paul givan, of the strongly pro—british democratic unionist party, quit in protest at inspections ofthe british mainland. london and brussels agreed on these checks to avoid creating a hard irish border after brexit. the winter olympics are getting fully under way in beijing — with the opening ceremony in a few hours�* time. almost 3,000 athletes from 91 nations will compete, with over 100 gold medals to be won across seven sports. but the run—up to the games has been fraught with controversy. she is one of china's 0lympians of tomorrow — maybe. she hadn't even been born the first time the olympics came to town. but now, the six—year—old skater is inspired by the games. translation: it's very exhausting, but she presses on. _ she won't leave until she's learned how to do all the moves. she doesn't quit. she can't go to any of the events, though. she can't get close. the winter olympics is happening in beijing, but almost everyone here is excluded from it. translation: it's sad we can't go to the names translation: it's sad we can't go to the games in _ translation: it's sad we can't

northern ireland's first minister, paul givan, of the democratic unionist party, has resigned, over theorthern ireland, and was negotiated as part of the brexit deal. products crossing the irish sea into northern ireland, are subject to new checks on entry, and this was meant to avoid the need for checks on goods reaching the irish republic. but unionists argue this effectively creates a border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. mr givan's resignation means the deputy first minister, sinn fein's michelle 0'neill, loses her position. here's our ireland correspondent, emma vardy. political paralysis returns to stormont. something the dup have been threatening since last year. today, as the first minister stepped down, it was delivered. 0ur institutions are being tested once again and the delicate balance created by the belfast and st andrews agreements has been impacted by the agreement made by the united kingdom government and the european union, which created the northern ireland protocol. it means the power—sharing executive in northern ireland will cease to function. dec

and no political group is angry about them than the democratic unionist party. it's harvey, it is the so called northern ireland protocol. my guest this week from county and jim and northern ireland is sammy wilson for the peace chief with the parliament in westminster conflict dawn in 60 minutes on d. w. o. she up to date. don't miss our highlights. the d w program on line d, w dot com, highlights the battle against cove it the only common variant is putting healthcare systems around the world to the test. vaccination campaigns are accelerating while restrictions are intensifying once again. but are these measures enough to stop the spread of omicron, fax data and reports release? you know, a weekly coping special every thursday on d w. ah, ah ah. hello and welcome to focus on europe and the eyes of the world are still on the 10 situations along the border between russia and ukraine. despite signs of a possible de escalation, russia had amassed heavy weaponry and well over a 100000 soldiers close to the frontier, one of the largest military operations in decade

what he's trying to do is write and what he's trying to do is write a unionists behind the democratic unionist partyf the dup and whether it's going to work or not it's a very high risk strategy because there are 28 pieces of legislation that would did to be completed before the end of this assembly. that's not going to happen. it might goodness knows how they will do it but that might have a backlash from the public and i also wonder isjeffrey donaldson hoping that there will be an agreement between the uk and the european union that will make the deal acceptable and that he can claim credit for it because he is the one who was the muscular unionist. you don't need any more questions from me. thank you so much. a former member of the house of lords has beenjailed for five and a half years for child sex offences. lord ahmed of rotherham carried out the assaults on two children in the 1970s when he was a teenager. there are now calls for him to be stripped of his title. the 64 year old was tried under his real name, nazir ahmed. from south yorkshire, tom ingall reports. once he sat on the comfortable

e of them is from the democratic unionist party. >> i have now issued a formal instruction to hold all december 31, 2020, from midnight tonight. i've prepared a paper for executive consideration in the near future to seek agreement on the way forward. ros: let's get reaction to this. the irish foreign minister says any decision by a northern ireland minister to stop fore-checks is effectively -- stop port checks is effectively a breach of international law. "we've beeclear all along that there were -- that's why we are in intensive talks with the eu to finch -- fix these issues. both sides sides have a responsibility to resolve this." here is more from our ireland correspondent. >> other parties are angry about this. what it essentially does is go against the original brexit deal the u.k. government signed up to with the eu, and the whole point of that was to avoid other checks over the irish land border here on the ireland -- island of ireland. these checks have been disliked by unionist, feeling like it cuts them off from the rest of the u.k., that it's unfair for nohern ireland, and

minister of northern ireland has resigned in protest at post—brexit trade rules which his democratic unionist partyitterly opposes. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us in the next few hours. with me arejohn stapleton, who is a broadcaster, and kate proctor, who is the editor of politicshome and the house magazine. welcome to you both. what a busy past few hours. let's have a look at what's already in. borisjohnson and his now former policy chief, munira mirza, are on the front of the guardian. four of the pm's senior aides have quit after controversy around lockdown parties and borisjohnson�*s false claim that sir keir starmer failed to prosecute jimmy savile. two perfect storms on the front of the metro — one, those downing street resignations, and the second, the impact of rising bills and interest rates. the same mix in the sun, saying chancellor rishi sunak has �*taken a dig' at the prime minister over his savile comments. the chancellor also in the telegraph, alongside a huge red line showing the increase to the energy price cap, highlighting that cost of

there's a, well, there's a way, the problem is this, that there has been a major effort by the democratic unionist party to turn the various difficulties that can be solved and to issues that can't be solved on, into political issues and, and make them a call slap. and paul given resigned a week or so ago they, there was hardly a huge. i mean, when i resigned this fuss minister scone, it was a major story. when collin jones resigned his 1st minister whales. it was a significant story when to lease a me resigned this prime minister. that was a huge story. but paul, given us a fuss minister resigned and i with the long island the wasn't really that much of a, a splash of publicity about is that because of so many other issues going on or is a collective shrunk of the shoulders and saying, well, i'll be all right after the elections will edition collect of sugar the shoulders because the various levels of incompetence m storm and at the moment how glad the public to become disillusioned and disconnected the public have no great aspirations or no great hopes for storms on the reason for that is, that you kn

northern ireland's first minister, paul givan, of the democratic unionist party, has resigned, over themplimentation of the northern ireland protocol. that's the mechanism governing the flow of goods between great britain and northern ireland, and was negotiated as part of the brexit deal. products crossing the irish sea into northern ireland, are subject to new checks on entry, and this was meant to avoid the need for checks on goods reaching the irish republic. but unionists argue this effectively creates a border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. here's our ireland correspondent, emma vardy. political paralysis returns to stormont — something the dup have been threatening since last year. today, as the first minister stepped down, it was delivered. our institutions are being tested once again and the delicate balance created by the belfast and st andrews agreements has been impacted by the agreement made by the united kingdom government and the european union, which created the northern ireland protocol. it means the power—sharing executive in northern ireland will cea

and when boots, who's from the democratic unionist party, ordered a whole to the checks on wednesday after months of his party, protesting about the northern ireland protocol. and then on thursday, we saw the 1st minister of northern island pull given actually resign. and he said, but the protocol had undermined a key part of the good friday agreement, which created the conditions for both peace and for power sharing. in northern ireland, the part that he was worried about is that they have to govern with the consent of both the nationalists and the unionists. the resignation of pul, give it also means, but the deputy 1st minister michelle of niel from the main nationalist party. she fain, she's also gone as well. so it leaves northern ireland with no executive. and if there's no executive ministers can, carrying, can carry on doing their jobs. but key decisions can get made. there is paralysis. what you goal is said to decide whether to give the go ahead for europe's largest lithium mine. it's seen as a vitamin all in the fight against climate change. because it's used to make batte

now on wednesday, this is the backgrounds. edwin boots also from the democratic unionist party, northern islands, agriculture minister, had ordered a hope to checks on food and animal products coming from mainland great britain into northern ireland. now those checks are in place because of the protocol. they're there because they can actually, those products can actually enter the european union of which the republic of ireland is a member. and that's why they're, they're currently in place on thursday, the use and financial services. commissioner marie begin is called the decision to hold the checks a breach of international law. and the you had said that the move creates further uncertainty. and unpredictability was certainly creates unpredictability for people living in northern islands. because the resignation automatically means that the deputy 1st minister michelle niel of the main republican party, she fain also goes there will be no executive without that they can't approve a 3 year budget, which is currently being looked at in other elections. local elections in may in northern

northern ireland's first minister, paul givan, of the democratic unionist party, has resigned,

mr poots is a member of the democratic unionist party, which is opposed to the protocol, which in effecteland in the eu single market. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy has the details. it's the most defiant step yet from the dup, to frustrate the brexit arrangements in northern ireland. since the uk left the eu, goods from britain have had to undergo new checks when they reach northern ireland's ports. tonight, the dup department responsible for operating these checks has ordered civil servants to stop carrying them out. i have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on the 31st of december 2020 from midnight tonight. i will prepare a paper for executive consideration in the nearfuture i will prepare a paper for executive consideration in the near future to seek a way forward. thank you. the new checks — seek a way forward. thank you. the new checks on _ seek a way forward. thank you. the new checks on goods crossing the irish sea were part of the brexit deal that the uk government signed up deal that the uk government signe

the change has been ordered by the democratic unionist party — dup — minister, edwin poots, and appears a section of the post—brexit agreement. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. it's the most defiant step yet from the dup to frustrate the brexit arrangements in northern ireland. since the uk left the eu, goods from britain have had to undergo new checks when they reach northern ireland's ports. tonight, the dup department responsible for operating these checks has ordered civil servants to stop carrying them out. i have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on the 31st of december 2020 from midnight tonight. i will prepare a paper for executive consideration in the near future to seek a way forward. thank you. the new checks on goods crossing the irish sea were part of the brexit deal that the uk government signed up to to avoid the need for checks on goods which travel into the irish republic. for unionists, who view this as effectively severing northern ireland's place in the uk, they have been a source of much

thenjeffrey donaldson, the leader of the democratic unionist party, was giving a news conference, ascerned. and, chris, if you haven't been following it closely and if everyone isn't as sad as us and have spent months and months talking about the protocol — to ask a really simple question, why does it really sort of matter? of course, it's of huge importance to people who live in northern ireland. but in the bigger picture, why does it matter? because it does matter hugely. but why? how would you summarise it? yeah, it's a good question, isn't it? because protocol is probably one of the dullest words in the english language, isn't it? speak for yourself! and yet it really matters here, really matters, because it was the... you could pull out a few more from your binders, actually, adam, couldn't you? but right at the heart of the brexit deal was this idea, wasn't there, of the the northern ireland protocol. trying to square that really difficult circle about how you keep the border on the island of ireland here open between northern ireland here in the uk, the republic down the way i

minister of northern ireland has resigned in protest at post—brexit trade rules which his democratic unionist partyitterly opposes. hello and welcome to another look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us in the next few hours. with me arejohn stapleton, broadcaster, and kate proctor, who is the editor of politicshome and the house magazine. welcome back. got a few more titles in. a close—up of borisjohnson on the front of the daily mail, which says the loss of four top aides, the chancellor not ruling out a leadership bid, and the rising cost of living has created a "meltdown in downing street". the guardian leading with those resignations, too, with the pm's policy chief, chief of staff, principal private secretary and director of communications all quitting number ten. i'm getting lost in all these letters. and the i saying they've quit over boris johnson's false claim that sir keir starmer failed to prosecutejimmy saville, and the fallout from lockdown parties. beneath that story, the times leads on the increasing cost of living. the paper reports a "bleak assessment" of soaring energy bi

do the democratic unionist party later or does the democratic union lady laid a party and dancing straight? wants a new rex. it deal? fort northern island? well, very much. so i mean the, the d u p are the largest party. they have always opposed the protocol and they believe it cuts the north of ireland all from the rest of the u. k. and create a border within the u. k. so they want to be removed and the british government also wants to protocol changed because they didn't realize it at the time i seriously affected was going to house. and since last september, the d u. p. have been threatening to put on the executives. if the protocol wasn't radically changed or indeed removed, which is what they really want. and that didn't happen there because he hasn't been successful. and the leader of the d u. p kept making these threats and come to the point where if he hadn't carried the money, it was going to be a laughingstock. so that's what happened yesterday and they pulled on the executive . well, there are many local set of implications to this. one of the international implications if the n

the democratic unionist party is protesting against the rules which govern post—brexit trade.t, chris page, reports. in northern ireland politics is all about politics and reports. the democratic unionist party which is the biggest group in the devolved assembly has been warning now for weeks that it will take strong measures unless the irish sea border is scrapped. now the dup�*s paul givan is set to resign at the first minister which means the power—sharing devolved government will not be able to function properly. they have had 1213 months to deal and prepare for this but they have ignored these warnings. under the rules of how stormont operates when paul givan resigns, the deputy first minister, michele 0'neil of sinn fein, automatically loses herjob as well. it is not clear if his resignation would take effect immediately or if he would leave his post next week, possibly after the stormont executive reviews covid restrictions. yesterday another dup minister ordered his officials to stop carrying out the brexit checks on goods, but it is understood inspections are continui

there has been months of protest by the democratic unionist party against checks on goods. the european commission says givens resignation creates further uncertainty and unpredictability for the northern ireland protocol. facebook's parent company is suffering one of the biggest ever stock market. why pounds met is sheer value fell at 24 percent in early trading on wall street. that plunge followed losses on wednesday, which wipes nearly $200000000000.00 of facebook's value. other social media companies such as twitter and pinterest are also suffering losses. kristen salamis covering this story out of new york. hello there, christine. tell us more about what land to such as sharp to climb. yeah, it is a big drop. 25 percent. almost 26. percent now it looks like states facebook stocks are down. this is in part due to the company's earnings. the last quarter were lower than expected. and predictions for the current quarter are also being down played by c o mark to soccer bird. they had their annual meeting yesterday. part of the declining revenues has been attributed to chan

now the agriculture minister for northern islands, edwin boots, whose from the democratic unionist party ordered a halt to the checks on wednesday after months of his party, protesting about the northern ireland protocol. and then on thursday, we saw the 1st minister of northern ireland pull given actually resign. and, and he said victim the protocol had undermined a key part of the good friday agreement, which created the conditions for both peace and for power sharing. in northern ireland video, the part that he was worried about is that they have to govern with the consent of both the nationalists and the unionists. so this is a big sticking point. clearly for the d u p, the biggest nationalist party, but the resignation of forgiven also means that the deputy 1st minister michelle of neal from the main nationalist party sion fain. she's also gone as well. so it leaves northern islands with no executive. and if there's no executive ministers can, carrying, can carry on doing their jobs. but a key decisions can't get made there is paralysis met him. it sounds like an incredibly tangled

decision—making here in northern ireland is to some degree at least, interrupted because of the democratic unionist party'she end of its road in terms of the frustration with the northern ireland protocol�*s operation and the impact those rules are having on business and the economy in northern ireland and what they see as northern ireland's status within the united kingdom having been reduced by that protocol and the way it is having an effect on business and life here. dan. on business and life here. dan, thank you _ on business and life here. dan, thank you very _ on business and life here. dan, thank you very much. - on business and life here. dan, thank you very much. dan - on business and life here. dan, thank you very much. dan johnson on business and life here. dan, thank you very much. danjohnson in belfast. i'm joined by shaun woodward, who was secretary of state for northern ireland during gordon brown's time as prime minister. a very good evening to you. if you were secretary of state today have what it would you be about the situation? i what it would you be about the situation? ., , what it w

and when boots from the democratic unionist party for those checks to be halted, so we got another month at least of those checks continuing. now m d u p had been very unhappy with as you were mentioning the, the protocol and the part of the bracket deal dealing with northern islands and on thursday night or the 1st minister of northern ireland. paul given who's also from the d u p. the main pro british party in northern ireland, he resigned saying that the protocol seriously damaged, or parts of the good friday agreement are which are set up the power sharing arrangement. notably, the part that says that via the communities, the national ester pro irish and community and the unionists have to govern in they have to both govern with consent of both of those groups. so, and there's a lot of unease within the d u. p. m, where this leads us is that the via the i am the deputy 1st minister of northern ireland michelle o'neil of shin fein, also has to resign. this means the executive is no longer functioning ministers can do their jobs, but for big decisions it creates real headaches. no, the

the bbc understands that northern ireland's first minister, paul givan of the democratic unionist partyletter of resignation from post as first minister. now, when the resignation will take effect is unclear. it could be immediately, it could be later on, perhaps next week. worth bearing in mind that next thursday ministers at the stormont executive are due to meet to discuss the remaining covid restrictions. in any case, it will create fresh political instability here in northern ireland. under the rules of the power—sharing system, there are five parties in government, and when the first minister resigns, that automatically means that the deputy first minister, michelle o'neill, will automatically lose herjob, too. other ministers will technically remain in post, running their departments. however, without a first and deputy first minister, essentially the stormont executive won't be able to function properly, and they will be vast uncertainty about a whole range of issues. for example, there is an apology scheduled for child abuse survivors on the 11th of march. could that go ahead?

take their direction from and most people see it as being opportunism on the part of the democratic unionists partyure, which is a reference to the fact that the good friday agreement allows for the british interior state to call for a border poll which could lead to reunification of ireland. he can do that if it looks as if a majority of people would vote for that.— vote for that. and in the short term, normal— vote for that. and in the short term, normal business - vote for that. and in the short i term, normal business paralysed? completely pa ralyse of term, normal business paralysed? completely paralyse of not knowing when that is going to change and there is a lot of legislation which is being worked for very heart of the past period which will now fall, which again is causing people to feel extremely dispirited and quite angry. feel extremely dispirited and quite an. _ ., feel extremely dispirited and quite an: , ' ., ., . . ., feel extremely dispirited and quite an: , ., . ., feel extremely dispirited and quite angry. margaret chemical to get you back and thank _ angry. margaret chemical to

the democratic unionist party is protesting against the rules which govern post—brexit trade.cate balance created by the _ once again. and the delicate balance created by the belfast _ once again. and the delicate balance created by the belfast and _ once again. and the delicate balance created by the belfast and st - created by the belfast and st andrews agreement has been impacted by the agreement made by the united kingdom government and the european union. that created the more ireland protocol. the consent principle —— the northern ireland protocol. the consent principle is a cornerstone of the belfast agreement and it is my earnest desire that all sections of the community will soon be able to give consent to the restoration of a fully functioning executive, through a resolution to the issues that have regrettably brought us to this point. so what's behind all this? why is the northern ireland protocol still so controversial? our correspondent chris morris is here. let's go back to the beginning, reminders of the protocol is. it is reminders of the protocol is. it is dea

northern ireland from the rest of the uk have been ordered to stop from this morning by the democratic unionist partyt of the dup's ongoing opposition to a part of the brexit agreement called the northern ireland protocol — which they say damages its place in the uk. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. it's the most defiant step yet from the dup to frustrate the brexit arrangements in northern ireland. since the uk left the eu, goods from britain have had to undergo new checks when they reach northern ireland's ports. the dup minister whose department is responsible for operating these checks has ordered civil servants to stop carrying them out. i have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on the 31st of december 2020 from midnight tonight. i will prepare a paper for executive consideration in the near future to seek agreement on the way forward. thank you. the new checks on goods crossing the irish sea were part of the brexit deal that the uk government signed up to you to avoid government signed up to to avoid the need for chec

mr poots is a member of the democratic unionist party, which is opposed to the protocol.t's a small rise on the week before. the number of people testing positive in england and scotland remained unchanged. but it rose in wales and northern ireland. the growing backlash against raith rover�*s decision to sign david goodwillie has led scotland's first minister to urge footballing authorities to step in. a civil court found the player had raped a woman and ordered him to pay damages. the crime writer val mcdermid withdrew her sponsorship yesterday and now says she intends to work with the women's teams instead. the club, meanwhile, has defended its position. michael gove's otherjob as besides levelling up the country, is to preserve the union. today he said the uk government would be working with the scotland to make the country a �*science superpower�*. glasgow one of the cities that will share £100 million of westminster funding to encourage innovation and research. the snp less than enamoured by that. they say they have not been properly consulted and spending in scotlan

we now have this political crisis because the democratic unionist party yesterday withdrew the firstoesn't completely freeze everything here because there are still departmental ministers in position who can carry on their work so some legislation can progress through the assembly here, but certainly no big laws can be made, no major decisions can be enacted. some are saying this should prompt earlier elections, that this was supposed to happen in may. some parties agree that would be a good thing to try and move things forward, others say we have to wait for that so we could see perhaps two months of uncertainty. the dup leader sirjeffrey donaldson said today even after those elections, if there are no changes to the trade rules, the northern ireland protocol and the way it is operating, if he doesn't get the sort of improvements he wants to the rules, he said it would be difficult for him to see government here ever returning, not least in the short term, so it looks like the disruption could continue for quite some time and that is potentially going to make a practical difference

the democratic unionist leader, sirjeffrey donaldson, has said it will be difficult for his party tonts are dealt with. the dup's paul givan resigned yesterday as first minister, in protest at the trade border with the rest of the uk. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is at stormont. tell us the very latest. well, northern _ tell us the very latest. well, northern ireland _ tell us the very latest. well, northern ireland is - tell us the very latest. well, northern ireland is this - tell us the very latest. well, . northern ireland is this morning without a first and deputy first minister. the resignation took place at midnight. under the rules of power—sharing, that means the deputy first minister is automatically out of herjob first minister is automatically out of her job as first minister is automatically out of herjob as well. this morning attention is turning to the implications of all of that, for public services, policy plans and indeed for the long—term future of the devolved government based here at stormont. full given has resigned because as a member of the dup he is o