substantial gains for sinn fein. 0bviously what do you make of it? substantial gains for sinn fein.ogether a new executive? sinn fein has a shopping list, topmost is a provision that would give equal status to the irish language in northern ireland in governmental institutions. the dup didn't want to do this. it's a hangover from the st andrews agreement which goes back to 2006. so they've got three weeks or so, the british government, to extend that period a bit to see if they can put humpty together again. if they can't, we end up with direct rule. and that's not going to be good from northern ireland, particularly given all the issues in northern ireland, the economy and the border with the republic, as we have heard about, as we go into the article 50 process. northern ireland at the moment does not have a voice in those talks. northern ireland will not have a democratically elected voice in those talks. if you look at scotland for example and the prime minister goes to scotland, makes a big speech, nicola sturgeon, the first minister, you know, has a voice in that, she has a sa

sinn fein, one seat behind on 27.ter unionist party has ten seats, their leader mike nesbitt, stepping down after the results. let's ta ke let's take a look at what has been a pretty momentous 2a hours with our ireland correspondent, chris buckler. if walking out of government was a gamble for sinn fein, it's paid off. they increased their share of the vote and narrowed the gap between them and their own coalition partners, the dup. but the result leaves major questions about the future of power—sharing in northern ireland. i said consistently throughout the campaign that sinn fein are not interested in going back to the status quo. that remains the position. the dup need to fundamentally change their ways and be true to the principles of power—sharing if they want to go back into the institutions. sinn fein had called for the dup leader, arlene foster, to step aside as first minister during a public enquiry into a botched green energy scheme. when she refused, sinn fein left the coalition government, forcing powerfro

think that sinn fein are.g in. similarly, in the south, where sinn fein is an emerging politicalforce south, where sinn fein is an emerging political force still, there is going to be the same thing. interestingly, a lot more women coming into the party as well. but i would not put too much store by that in itself. i think that is just by the nature of things, may be the dup and the demographic is getting older, sinn fein appeals to a younger, more working class group, maybe some of the old divisions are breaking down. the unionist— nationalist thing is perhaps breaking down. for example, says of the border in the republic, sinn fein appeals not necessarilyjust to nationalist waters, but people who are nationalist waters, but people who a re interested nationalist waters, but people who are interested in what is going to happen, anti—austerity candidates, that kind of thing —— nationalist voters. that is probably what is happening in northern ireland as well, more about the economy than what happened 20 years

sinn fein is having a good election. those are the words of the dup leader arlene foster, with 37 out of the 90 seats declared. air accident investigators say pilot error and ineffective safety measures caused the shoreham airshow crash which killed 11 people. theresa may criticises the scottish government accusing it of "tunnel—vision nationalism." that is over calls for a second independence referendum. the number of people on controversial zero hours contracts hits a record high of almost 1 million workers. and in the next hour — a hotel which boasts the "worst view in the world." the walled off hotel in bethlehem is the creation of famous street artist banksy, and has views of the wall israel has built in and around the occupied west bank. hull is britain's city of culture for 2017 — we'll be bringing you the highlights from its first two months in a special programme at 8.30. good evening and welcome to bbc news. results are being declared in the northern ireland assembly election, and turnout is up sharply compared

so where will compromise, from from sinn fein? this is a good day for sinn fein?sinn fein? this is a good day for sinn fein but a very good day for those who believe in political integrity and equality. secondly, in terms of compromise, we have the agreements. this is not about a new agreement. we already have the agreements. this is about very important aspects connected to equality that have been reneged on by the dup and at times by the british government. this is about the meditation. that is where we're going. if it is compromise, it is one that says, we treat people with respect. despite the fact we disagree on many things, we also agree on many things. people want to move forward. i have to say this. it isa move forward. i have to say this. it is a phenomenon with the views of people on the doorsteps talking about the dup and arlene foster.m this a mandate from your photos to effectively ta ke this a mandate from your photos to effectively take into your position, or is ita effectively take into your position, or is it a mandate from your voters to move for

want the dup and sinn fein so farto dig in they want the dup and sinn fein so far to dig in on their? 0r is this an electorate that genuinely wa nts is this an electorate that genuinely wants change at stormont? how do you explain the dominance of sinn fein and the dup so far? they have been looking at their electoral strategy and vote management and they are successfully getting their vote out. sinn fein have had a good election so sinn fein have had a good election so far, the dup less good so far. but it is almost like a tribal count, get the tribes out and count the votes and there has been no crossover at all as far as those parties are concerned. the way forward is we try and get more form of government and a government with opposition. we are some way away from that. people think that because in 1998 we had a peace deal that the politics in northern ireland was sorted. but we have a way to go. i wa nt to sorted. but we have a way to go. i want to bring in an emeritus professor to of politics at belfast university. just a thought on the news from arlene foster's constituency, t

there wasn't a single mention of sinn fein anywhere in it —— acceptance. mention of sinn fein anywhere. she has declined to be interviewed by the bbc so far, but we're hoping she will talk to us tomorrow. she has opted to go home without giving a detailed interview to the bbc. uncharacteristic.” without giving a detailed interview to the bbc. uncharacteristic. i do find it strange. she gave an interview to the tv in ireland. the dup are hurting tonight and they will regroup. if mike nesbitt had not resigned we would be talking more about her position, but politics is a rough trade. it is a dirty and rough business and we saw today how rough it can get. the dup we re today how rough it can get. the dup were surprised by how rough it has got. what about mike nesbitt's decision to go? i mentioned the political editor 15 years ago, you work with mike nesbitt in this building, as to die, over many yea rs. were building, as to die, over many years. were you surprised that he launched that pre—emptive strike and fell on his sword? —— as did i. earlier than maybe he had to, because people were

sinn fein in a very strong position.volution to work, then there's going to have to be a compromise of some description. i think the big question now is who wants storm wand mode, —— who wants storm stormont most. so there are red lines on both sides, the sinn fein leader michelle 0'neill has said she won't go into devolved government with arlene foster. there does not seem to be any comp eyes on that from their perspective and that has always been the difficulty in northern ireland politics, finding areas of compromise, finding a route through. when we have come to big, difficult moments in the past we have needed outside help. the good friday agreement of 1998 was steered through by senator george mitchell. the issue of arms decommissioning, and others. this time this needs to be something wider in terms of negotiation, it needs outside help, it needs its hand—held again. negotiation, it needs outside help, it needs its hand-held again. but not james brokenshire? they are making it very clear that they do not considerj

with those sinn fein transfers that could be just enough to get the last seat for sinn fein thachlt wouldst here on three seats, the dup, arlene foster onjust one here on three seats, the dup, arlene foster on just one and the ulster unionist rose marry barton on one. thank you very much. let's hear from gregory thank you very much. let's hearfrom gregory campbell, the east londonderry mp who at the east londonderry and foyle count at the foyle arena in derry. evening to you. thank you forjoining us. you have been keeping a close eye on both those counts. yes, very close eye. it's been a long day and i am sure it will be a longer evening. what about foyle, first of all, i am not sure of the state of play as far as that is concerned but gary middleton looking good for that 5th seatin middleton looking good for that 5th seat in foyle, is he? well, yes, it's not over the line yet, but a tremendous performance by gary, given the context of this sustained diet that we have had for three months every day. he not only put the number of votes up that the dup got, but he put the share of the vote

will between the dup and sinn fein will be remaina between the dup and sinn fein will be remain a fictionions of james brokenshire. they have had their mandates reinforced, cap can get the deal along? thank you very much. as we head into the evening, we are a little over the halfway mark in terms of the number of seats declared. but i think as we look ahead to tomorrow, the clear themes are there, success for sinn fein in particular, even the dup leader, arlene foster, saying sinn fein has had a really good election. the dup and sinn fein might be a little closer at the end of this in terms of the number of seats they have. and where that leaves northern ireland politics, it is difficult to say. there are another possible avenues, a number of scenarios, but one thing is for sure — whatever negotiations begin next week once all seats are declared, by tomorrow afternoon, there are some difficult negotiations ahead. thank you very much, anita. we will have continuing coverage as those results come in. now the pilot of the plane of the shore disaster. the pilot who survive says he remembers n

-- what is sinn fein game today. bright past bought all of people. sinn fein will deliver on all its obligations. so does a bright future include another possible suspension of the assembly in position of direct rule, another election all some sort of bridge to allow more time to pass before a political settlement. there are equal a bright future? my constituents believe a bright future is as follows, the roma community fear being put out of your lip, being forced to return to the mania rather than here where they made their home. the lgbt community want to see marriage equality on every pa rt to see marriage equality on every part of these islands. an irish nationalists, we want an end to this attempt to force others into second—class citizenship. we're going to deliver that bright future and belfast deserves that. the vote obliges me to go forward to the dup and the british government and say we will not temper. does it oblige you to say that you will give way a little bit more if you can get the dup to give way a

is been a good day the sinn fein and dup, better the sinn fein as they are slightly in the lead. the nature that is it unionist seats trickle in at the end. might to seek dup lead. it is very narrow and close, when it comes to attack the end that is maybe what it is, but it is very, very tight indeed. —— when it comes to it at the end. if it is as close as that, what's that say the time to resolve the stalemate? first, to get the parliament we started you probably need the dup no matter how narrow, because the unionist community will feel that they should have a majority... in that sense, it is probably a requirement, but nonetheless this campaign has not soften any the antagonism is, eileen foster has done very well in her own constituency which is much more disliked by nationalists than she was a few months ago. it will be a very tricky negotiation. the government have the opportunity of spinning it out every few weeks and calling a second election. although, eve ryo ne calling a second election. although, everyone is exhausted today, you cannot rule out the second election. th

the dup emerged with 28 seats, and sinn fein with 27.ties now have three weeks to establish a government. this report, from our ireland correspondent chris buckler, contains flash photography. if walking out of government was a gamble for sinn fein, it's paid off. they increased their share of the vote and narrow the gap between them and their own coalition partners, the dup. but the result leaves major questions about the future of power—sharing in northern ireland. i said consistently throughout the campaign that sinn fein are not interested in going back to the status quo. that remains the position. the dup need to fundamentally change their ways and be true to the principles of power—sharing if they want to go back into the institutions. sinn fein had called for the dup leader, arlene foster, to step aside as first minister during a public enquiry into a botched green energy scheme. when she refused, sinn fein left the coalition government, forcing powerfrom office. there is work to be done and work to quickly mend the relationship w

i said consistently throughout the campaign sinn fein are not throughout the campaign sinn fein a reerested throughout the campaign sinn fein are not interested in going back to the status quo. the dup have to fundamentally change their ways and be true to the principles of power—sharing. be true to the principles of power-sharing. sinn fein had called for the dup leader arlene foster to step aside as first minister during a public enquiry into a botched green energy scheme. when she refused sinn fein left the coalition government forcing herfrom refused sinn fein left the coalition government forcing her from office. now there is work to be done and work to quickly mend the relationship which had been frayed by the discord of this election. but it was a more stormont‘s opposition parties that suffered most in this election. i shall make my statement and leave the stage. the leader of the ulster union is mike nesbitt stood down because of their poor performance. it will now be up to the leaders of sinn fein and the dup to draw battlelines in the inevitable negotiations to try to form

the sinn fein president gerry adams saying that sinn fein does require the dup leader arlene foster tok to the news that thousands are taking part in a march and demonstration in london today. we could cross to richard lister at westminster where the rally took place. things are winding up. the last few speakers taking their place on the podium and the crowd is beginning to thin out but it was well attended and thousands of people in whitehall earlier to make the case for more investment in the nhs. with me is an organiser, what dus think you have achieved today? it is a big demonstration, and we think it is the largest demonstration about the nhs that has taken place. we wanted to say we are opposed to government policy and privatisation and we want proper investment in what is a world—class service. a fantastic service that relies too much on the goodwill of staff and the people who work in it. we know there has been bad emergencies over the past months and we know lots of a&es are under threat and it is about saying we wa nt threat and it is about saying we want the government to ch

sinn fein, as you can see, feel very buoyed up by their result.ve two parties going in determined to hold their corners. the difficulty for everybody might be that there is a cementing of positions and that could make negotiations very hard. why is there this flagging up of needing more time to form the coalition? why is this a problem now? because three weeks is not a long time. and although these parties were working together in coalition and were talking about working for a shared future and doing a job of government here just a matter of months ago. it has become clear since the collapse of that government in january that really they were covering the cracks. they have deep divides over a lot of things. brexit, the irish language, education... the list goes on and on. and to get them back together again after the harsh words of that election, it will be tough. this has become personal as well as political. arlene foster's words of talking about republicans as crocodiles, "if you feed them they will come back for more", she said. if anything it

so it's very clear she's placing the blame very firmly on sinn fein.g the blame on the dup and indeed on the british government and they say the two main sticking points if you like, the indications are that the two main sticking points we have our first leave the running of new organisations, new agencies to investigate killings from the troubles, and secondly a demand for an irish language act that sinn fein have made, they want legal recognition for the irish language in northern ireland, two major issues in those talks at the moment, two major issues at the moment as far as we two major issues at the moment as faras we can two major issues at the moment as far as we can tell can't be overcome. the headlines on bbc news: the home secretary says intelligence services must have access to encrypted messages. khalid masood is thought to have been using whatsapp moments before he carried out his attack, killing four people. it has emerged that people living close to the site of a major explosion on merseyside last night reported smelling gas at least 2a

we listened to sinn fein in a live press c0 nfe re nce we listened to sinn fein in a live press conference sounded quite conciliatory in their response to the election results, although arlene fosters position does remain a real sticking point. yes, the town of gerry adams's news conference they are was quite diplomatic. he said yes they would assert their mandate, because they have done very well in the opinion poll, but he did say they would try to find a way to go forward. sinn fein‘s leader in stormont, michelle o'neill, said that she was pretty confident that negotiations could ta ke confident that negotiations could take place if political parties went in with the right attitude, although she did acknowledge and it wouldn't be easy. and gerry adams said that while his party acknowledged that arlene foster is the leader of the democratic unionist party, they are saying they cannot work with her as first minister while there is this ongoing public enquiry into exactly how taxpayers' money was used in this botched renewable energy scheme which of course caused the last stormont administ

sinn fein, witha parties have bad elections. sinn fein, with a spring in its step.on, as you mentioned, david trimble. i don't think there is any realistic possibility. there are many shocks in the aftermath of this election result. the ulster unionists increased their boat, could they become a power broker? the green party also held onto those two seats they had. so this could suggest that they punched well above their weight in this election. the alliance leader has been impressive in the leaders debates. i think when we get to a negotiation, if it is left simply to the dup, sinn fein, the two governments, it won't work. there are questions as to whether the british secretary of state should check these negotiations. but we believe there should be an independent chair. i think david trimble is right that we do need to press a pause button, take time. in many senses, this is the last chance to get this right. the result means the dup has lost its veto, the e—petition of concern, before it collapsed in january, e—petition of concern, before it collapsed injanuary, b

it is clear she is placing the blame very firmly on sinn fein.ty and on the british government, they say that the two main sticking points, if you like, are firstly the running of new organisations and agents to investigate killings in the troubles and second and irish language act, they want official recognition for they want official recognition for the irish language. two major issues which at the moment cannot be overcome. chris, thank you per the moment. the home secretary, amber rudd, has called on technology firms to allow access to encrypted material in terror cases. it's thought the westminster attacker, khalid masood, used the whatsapp messaging service seconds before he killed four people last wednesday, but it's not known what was communicated. whatsapp says it is cooperating with the authorities. the labour mp chi 0nwurah — who's the co—chair of parliament's communications and technology forum — joins me now. by by webcam. thank you very much for joining us this evening. how much sympathy do you have fought what amber robb has been c

for the moment, sinn fein have the north—west.tes among constituencies, you have to tell people in each constituency which candidate to vote for. in west belfast we have seen model vote management by sinn fein. several other candidates are pulling near ha rd other candidates are pulling near hard level so sinn fein have been hear all morning and their vote management worked out in west belfast so that is a good sign for their election. the alliance party may have outpolled the leader of the ulster unionist party, mike nesbitt. he was asking people to transfer their votes across traditional community lines in order to deliver change at stormont. that's right, that was one of the key points in this campaign. mike nesbitt thing he would give his second preference vote to the nationalist sdlp. the dup strongly attacked him for that, damaging unionism. a lot of people thought that might take the wind out of the sails of the ulster unionist campaign. incidentally there was a big cheer therefore sinn fein. he topped the poll in south bel

for sinn fein, yes you have pointed out about those intractable problems that both sides have not been out but if arlene foster was to step aside, might that be a way forward aside, might that be a way forward as foreign sinn fein are concerned? i think it goes beyond that and really when you speak to sinn fein, you get the impression that you want a lot of things addressed, drs language, they held a protest interestingly as james was speaking .— etching spoken shire. most of the sinn fein mla's were not listening to what he had to say, they were outside protesting about the russian language. that gives you the idea that then focused on these the dishes and spun about making their own points, saying what is important to them. you have had a lot of politicians talking today, but they haven't been talking to each other really, they have been talking to the media and they really have been blaming the other parties, they are very, very deeply divided and that isa very, very deeply divided and that is a huge problem going forward. james broken sure and the westminster government everyone's

this election marks a moment for sinn fein.overnment was a gamble for the party, it has paid off. they've increased their share of the vote, narrowing the gap between them and the coalition members of the dup. the sinn fein's leader at stormont michelle 0'neill. the sinn fein's leader at stormont michelle o'neill. i said consistently we weren't interested in going back to the status quo. that remains the position. the dup have fundamentally changed their ways. the democratic unionist party still have the largest share of the first preference votes, but only just. arlene foster! and to an extent arlene foster is putting on a brave faced. she was forced from the office of first minister and sinn fein broke down the power—sharing. now there is work to be done and work to quickly mend the relationship which has been frayed by the discord of this election. belfast has long had a reputation links to divisive politics. if anything this election in stormont has cemented that. people will turn to the ballot box to make their choice. the

sinn fein cannot trigger it themselves.ertainly call for another referendum, but i suspect that if i had to put money on it that scotland will be out of the uk before northern ireland. right, well, two bits of good news for donald trump. his speech to congress went down well this week and the promise of a very un—conservative keynesian public spending boom pushed up the stockmarket. but not so good news: his choice for attorney general, the man in charge of thejustice department and hence of the fbi, has had undisclosed links with the russians. does it matter? it is quite a big story. yes, it's a huge story. we saw his speech to congress well recieved, he was in control, read from the teleprompter, but within 2a hours you had this scandal withjeff sessions erupting and the chaos and the chaos of the trump presidency resumed. i think it is a big deal. it is a big deal that he has recused himself from any investigation into trump's links with russia during the campaign. it leaves temporarily and obama appoint the in charge of

she was forced from the office of first minister, when sinn fein brought down power—sharing.ckly mend the relationship which had been frayed by the discord of this election. belfast has long had a reputation linked to divisive politics. if anything, this election to stormont has cemented that. people returned to the ballot box to make their choice, following a bitterfallout over a botched green energy scheme, among many other things. and that's anything but a laughing matter for those who found themselves voting again, just ten months after the last election. i think there's too much bickering and fighting, and instead of what they were elected for, instead of looking after the people and trying to do something for the people, there's too much in—house fighting. but if there is public frustration with that old battle between irish nationalists and british unionists, it didn't benefit stormont‘s opposition parties. i shall make my statement and leave the stage. this evening, the ulster unionist leader mike nesbitt stepped down, taking responsibility for his party's poor perfor

sinn fein believe they have changed the political picture in northern ireland.is election was a battle in the long fight between unionism and nationalism, they are claiming victory. clearly the unionist majority in the assembly has been ended and the notion of a permanent or perpetual unionist majority has been demolished. the dup are still stormont‘s biggest party, but they can only watch as republican add to their sizeable lead from the last election just ten months ago. many voters were motivated by the harsh words of the campaign. at one stage the dup compared republicans to crocodiles. now they have bitten back. in order to go back into government sinn fein are calling for arlene foster to step aside as first minister while a public enquiry takes place into a financial scandal linked to a botched green energy scheme. it is a demand that has angered mrs foster's party. now we have got to pick up the pieces after a brutal election and the party which has got most to be concerned about as to how to repair the damage is sinn fein. for so long the big beast of p

topping the poll at the moment is sinn fein with 23. sinn fein, who would like to see a united ireland. then it is the democratic unionist party, they are on 14. the ulster unionist party have seven, in one of the dramatic turns to this day so far their leader mike nesbitt said he would be standing down because of his party's performance in these elections. he had appealed to people to vote across traditional community lines and transfer their votes to other parties who he said would bring about change in northern ireland politics. but it doesn't look like were going to get change, is the bottom line, because it looks like sinn fein and the dup will still be the largest parties and a number of the smaller ones have collected around nine seats between them. we are seeing an increasingly polarised electorate. remind us why these elections are so important. these elections are so important because they are about the future of devolved government in northern ireland. in the past, we have had direct rule from westminster and thatis direct ru

and the dup and did not seem to com pletely fein and the dup and did not seem to completely rule outthe thought that a caretaker first minister could ta ke a caretaker first minister could take over. when the prospect was put to her she said it was regrettable but sinn fein had been making red lines, join red lines before the negotiations and said her party was not going to do that but she said these things would have to be worked out in negotiations. so not a flat no but certainly up until now the dup have been vocally resist to the idea that arlene foster should temporarily stand aside as first minister for the duration of the public enquiry. so not a flat note for her to stand aside but surely the dup would not want as sinn fein clearly does not want, direct rule from westminster and as result the dup may be willing to bend a little bit as a result? well the stakes are very high. the party is technically have three weeks from now to do a deal, get a new system in place for power—sharing, a new agreement between them. it's not clear exactly what it would take to get them over the l

sinn . . that sinn fein journey that sinn fein and many nationalists are on, but please, do not rush ireland. politically, i think it is not but if iii think it is not realistic, but what is 23w is to imagine that is realistic is to imagine that people can learn to respect one another and to have a united ireland in that sense, a place of respect. perhaps the most enduring legacy of the g, eneram that moved from war the generation that moved from war to peace is realism, learned by toipeacieisi realism; teamed-by mcguinness toipeecieisi realism; leamed—by mcguinness and others at an martin mcguinness and others at an immense cost to this society. fergal keane, bbc news. the campaign of violence carried out by the provisional ira against'british'rule included cities and towns that left dozens of people dead. the families of some victims came to know martin mcguinness personally. others said they could never come to terms with what he had done. this report is from our home editor mark easton. the ira's campaign of bombings and murders on mainland britain saw dozens killed and hundreds

the headlines at 2pm: sinn fein celebrates a surge in support in northern ireland's assembly elections. the dup is still the biggest party but with just one more seat than the republicans. president trump accuses the obama administration of tapping his phone during the presidential election campaign. concerns over the impact for 4,000 vauxhall workers in britain, as a french car company reportedly reaches a deal to buy general motors‘ european operations. a house of lords report says britain is not be legally obliged to make a final budget payment to the eu after brexit. also in the next hour: thousands of people march in london to demonstrate over nhs cuts. protestors have travelled from across the country and jeremy corbyn is expected to address the crowd. and we're visting hull as britain's city of culture for 2017. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. sinn fein are celebrating their best ever showing in elections to the northern ireland assembly. with all the votes counted, they've won 27 seats, just one behind the democratic unionists. s

first minister win sinn fein brought down power-sharing.n ireland want and woman in northern ireland want an assembly up and running and working for them with my party and all parties playing their role. we have proved we are up for that and we call on other parties to be up for it and stop messing about with devolution and wrecking the hope and aspirations of the entire community. the dup and sinn fein have three weeks to do a deal, otherwise people face the prospect of the westminster government is taking over the running of northern ireland, at least for a period. to avoid that, irish nationalists and british unionists must come together again. what might matter is how much they value power. officials in ireland say human remains of a significant number of babies and infant children have been discovered in underground chambers at the site of a former church—run mother and baby home. excavations were ordered at tuam in county galway by a commission set up by the irish government last 0ctober, following allegations about the deaths of near

are concerned they did not think sinn fein were up foran they did not think sinn fein were up for an agreement at all, that that was not their aim. 0k, for an agreement at all, that that was not theiraim. ok, so 4pm is the deadline. then what? well, at 4pm time will officially runs out. we are expecting a statement from the northern ireland secretary, james brokenshire. he has three options. as the law stands, he has to call another snap election to the stormont assembly. the last one as you may remember was just over three weeks ago at the previous election before that was just in may last year, so if you don't go for an election, it would be the third election, it would be the third election in a little over a year. 0therwise, election in a little over a year. otherwise, he could pass emergency legislation at westminster which would enable the westminster government to impose what is known as direct rule, basically take over the running of northern ireland and that would mean the parliament he would be suspended. the third option which may be the middleweight and i suspect this is

but they used to have ten more assembly members than sinn fein.vantage. unionism no longer has a majority in northern ireland's assembly. the likes of sinn fein, saying they're there for both sides... they're not there for both sides. they're only there for their own community. if they want a united ireland, that's not what we want. this has long been a place of peace walls and divided identities. stormont has just three weeks to come up with its latest cross community compromise. that time will pass quickly. a brief look at some of the day's other other news stories. security services have prevented 13 potential terror attacks in britain since 2013, that's according to the uk's most senior counter—terrorism officer. assistant commissioner mark rowley also said there were 500 live investigations at any one time and appealed for help from the public. southern health nhs foundation trust will face prosecution over alleged failings at a mental health unit. it's the first time the regulator, the care quality commission, has launched a prosecution agai

then, the dup won 38 of the 108 seats, while sinn fein were in second place with 20 assembly members.onists and the alliance, they will all hope to have increased their share of the vote after the way that coalition fell apart, and that's true for the smaller parties, too. but actually gaining seats could be difficult, because the number of assembly members is being reduced from 108 to just 90. so there will definitely be some disappointed former mlas at the count centres today. there is one other number to watch. the size of the dup in the last assembly gave the party what's known as a petition of concern. in effect, that's a veto to prevent any legislation they don't like. they need to hold onto 30 seats to keep that veto. although the future of the petition of concern itself could be up for discussion as the parties try to get an agreement that would allow the return of power sharing. that could be difficult. during this campaign, harsh words have been exchanged between the dup‘s arlene foster and the new sinn fein leader, michelle 0'neill. by the end of this count, stormont will h

sinn fein have been overlyjubilant, stalemate.uce the difference between them reduce the difference between them and the dup at stormont from ten seats to just a single seat. the democratic unionists have been somewhat defensive. arlene foster has been here having to defend herself against claims of a revolt within her party. she says she is facing problems but it has got to be said that power—sharing has a difficulty. that is meeting that three—week time period to get it back and running again. thank you. the zeebrugge ferry tragedy is the worst peacetime british maritime disaster at sea in living memory. 30 years ago today, the herald of free enterprise capsized within minutes of setting sail from belgium for dover. 193 passengers and crew died. they died because the ship's bow doors hadn't been closed. today, ceremonies have been held in britain and belgium to remember the dead. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy joined the families, rescuers and survivors. in the choppy waters of the north sea, not far from where the herald went

to date there is little to suggest that sinn fein wa nt to is little to suggest that sinn fein want tocussions were possible during this round of talks. any future discussions will have to be ona future discussions will have to be on a more solid footing. throughout the course of saturday, sinn fein behaves as if they were the only party whose mandate mattered, this cannot and will not be the basis for a successful outcome. the dup stands ready to continue to discuss how we can new arrangements for northern ireland. a very critical statement there from the dup leader and the prospect is that there could have to be yet more elections very soon in northern ireland if this impasse cannot be got through. we will bring you more reaction to what is happening in those talks later on here on bbc news. carrie lam has been elected as hong kong's new leader, the first woman told the top job. she had the backing of the chinese government in beijing and was widely expected to win. hong kong selects its leader by a specially chosen committee rather than giving everybody a vote. the winning moment. c

this election marks a moment for sinn fein.mber. if walking out of government was a gamble for the party, it has paid off. they have increased their share of the vote, narrowing the gap between them and their old coalition partners, the dup. and that will feel as a personal triumph for sinn fein‘s leader at stormont, michelle 0'neill. i said consistently, throughout the campaign, sinn fein weren't interested in going back to the status quo. that remains the position. the dup need to fundamentally change their ways and be true to the principles if they want to go back into the institution. the democratic unionist party still have the largest share of the first preference votes, but only just. is deemed elected. arlene foster! and to an extent the dup leader arlene foster is putting on a brave face. she was forced from the office of first minister when sinn fein brought down power—sharing. now there's work to be done, and work to quickly mend the relationship, which had been frayed by the discord of this election. belfast has lon

not so, says michelle o'neill, the leader of sinn fein at stormont.'s actions in the talks. we came at the negotiation over the course of the last three weeks fully engaged, our full team were there wanting to deal with all of the issues. we said consistently throughout the course of that that we needed to see implementation of issues that were previously agreed. that was a major stomping block. that was a major stumbling block. the dup did not approach it with the right attitude. they were not prepared to bring forward mechanisms and deal with the issues and make sure we had full implementation. the british government did not play their role in the way that they should. they should have ensured that we had delivery on what has been previously been agreed. that is the scene at stormont where we are waiting for the northern ireland secretary to come out and make a statement. just to recapture, the main political parties have spent three weeks talking to each other, trying to break the deadlock that at the moment threatens devolution. with that deadline

aimed at forming a power—sharing government in northern ireland appear to have broken down after sinn feinaid it wouldn't be nominating its leader at stormont to become deputy first minister by tomorrow's deadline. but sinn fein president gerry adams said it should be possible to agree a power—sharing arrangement at some point in the future. the head of britain's biggest union, unite, has said thatjeremy corbyn should be given 15 months to see if he can improve labour's poll ratings. len mccluskey is standing for re—election as the union's general secretary. for re—election mr corbyn says labour is ready for re—election for a general election if one is called. jeremy corbyn has said he'll oppose the government's plans to change european laws without parliamentary scrutiny when they become part of uk law during the brexit process. scrutiny when they become part of uk the government wants to include the powers in its great repeal bill, which will be published in draft form this week. our political correspondent alex forsyth has the story. we are europe! alex forsyth has the story. some still

sinn fein has said tonight that the talks between the parties have run the course.se. there is a deadline tomorrow by which they we re is a deadline tomorrow by which they were supposed to nominate a new deputy first minister to serve alongside arlene foster, the dup first minister. the party had said they were going to renominate her. sinn fein, michele 0'neil, the party leader at stormont, she's exceeded the late martin mcguinness, she said that she will not be nominating anyone —— she succeeded the late martin mcguinness. power—sharing agreement requires the two largest parties both to serve, no sinn fein, no executive, no stormont assembly, and the government will then decide if it holds fresh elections or effectively continues with direct rule from london. it looks like northern ireland is heading to a second set of elections. mod in just a matter of months after sinn fein announced it was the end of the road the talks and it will not be nominating anyone to serve as deputy first minister tomorrow's deadline. that is the breaking news and we will have more in t