michelle o'neill, the deu thank you. michelle o'neill, the deputy first _ thank you.ich is a russian news agency, has reported that boris johnson has now spoken by phone to president putin, we knew that a phone call was scheduled sometime this afternoon about the ongoing situation about over ukraine, and that conversation is said to have taken place. according to ria, which is citing the kremlin, so we will bring you more detail on that as soon as we have it. now, the manchester united footballer mason greenwood has been released on bail pending further investigation after his arrest on suspicion of rape and assault. the 20—year—old striker was arrested by police on sunday before being further arrested on allegations of sexual assault and making threats to kill. manchester united previously said he would not return to training or matches until further notice. there are reports that ministers plan to cut everyone's energy bills by £200 as part of a strategy to deal with the effect of soaring gas prices. it's understood the proposals will also include an extension of su

it means michelle o'neill, the deputy first minister, also no longer in post.t and brexitcast, around the whole business of the northern ireland protocol. edwin poots, the agriculture minister, saying yesterday that he didn't think that the whole business of the checks on goods coming over the irish sea into northern ireland should be continuing and we've seen a response from the government at westminster, haven't we? saying that, actually, well, hang on a minute, they didn't know this was coming. we should try and reach some sort of arrangement. the european commission not happy. they've been talking to the foreign secretary, so politics absolutely all happening here. as i landed here a couple of hours ago, paul givan was on his feet, resigning. thenjeffrey donaldson, the leader of the democratic unionist party, was giving a news conference, as were sinn fein. so huge turbulence yet again here at stormont, as far as governance in northern ireland is concerned. and, chris, if you haven't been following it closely and if everyone isn't as sad as us and have spen

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, then what are the chances of a resolution given everything you've to st? well, there are lots of different possibilities, both shin fane, the, the main nationalist polity. and with the fact one snap collections, there are local elections due in may. in northern ireland, we don't know whether that's really going to fly at the moment. some on friday, the main parties apart from the d, u p, had a virtual meeting. now, next week the u. k. 's foreign secretary is trust is due to carry on discussing a possible changes to the deal with the the vice head of the european commission. nothing has been coming in the last few months and the d. p. say that bars, johnson has said it's unlikely that there will be changes. they want the u. k. to act unilaterally. will that be very divisive for now? we know than islands. big decisions like

resign as first minister, that means the deputy first minister, his main power—sharing partner, michelle o'neillill be able to go on, the devolved government here will not fully function. as things stand, there is an election scheduled for the stormont assembly at the beginning of may and many of the dup's critics will say this is more about the dup trying to appeal to core voters who are opposed to the protocol ahead of that election than anything else. but if there is a resignation at the top of the power—sharing executive today, the political implications will run far and wide, notjust in northern ireland, but because this is essentially all about the brexit arrangements for northern ireland, in london, dublin and brussels as well there will be many people watching and wondering and seeing how all this plays out.— how all this plays out. finally for the moment. — how all this plays out. finally for the moment, it _ how all this plays out. finally for the moment, it was _ how all this plays out. finally for the moment, it was interesting l the moment, it was interesting listening to brandon le

well, - fundamentally, because the first minister has stepped down, the deputy first minister, michelle o'neillarty leaders will talk about today, hopefully how they can possibly make decisions in the coming week because they are meant to nominate a new first minister and deputy first minister in a weak�*s time and we will not expect those positions to be filled. we can have a situation in which the assembly can continue to pass legislation, even though the executive can't make decisions. but given sinn fein has called for the election to held earlier than may when it was scheduled for, it looks likely that may happen and we may be facing the prospect of an assembly election, which means all the legislation that was due to be passed by the assembly will not be passed, which ultimately points to the question of has the dup made the right move in this electorally speaking? well unionist supporters genuinely believe that the protocol is an existential threat to the union and the most important issue? or will they feel hard done by that the assembly mandate was not fulfilled. professor katie haywar

givan took effect from midnight, and under the rules of power—sharing, deputy first minister michelle o'neilltinue, but basically the devolved government cannot make any new major decisions without its two most senior members. there are a lot of questions this morning, both about policy plans, the effect on public services, and the long—term future of power—sharing here, as the dup leader, sirjeffrey donaldson has been saying, to be difficult for his party to go back into government, after an election currently scheduled for the first week in may, if group that concerns about the northern ireland protocol were not dealt with. —— if dup concerns. the opening ceremony of this year's winter olympics is getting under way in beijing. this is the scene at the main stadium — known as the bird's nest. its rim is decorated with the flags of the 91 competing nations and regions. few global leaders have journeyed to beijing to be at the opening, but the russian president vladimir putin is there. he's held a meeting with his chinese counterpart xi jinping. it comes at a time when many in the west fear pr

at midnight and under the rules of power sharing here, that means the deputy first minister michelle o'neillasically the devolved governments cannot make any new major decisions without its two most senior members. chris new major decisions without its two most senior members.— new major decisions without its two most senior members. chris page in belfast there. _ ministers have promised a new 10—year strategy to improve cancer care in england, but cancer charities have told the government it'll be a huge challenge. we spoke to shaun walsh earlier, he's head of public affairs at cancer research uk. i should say from the outset, cancer research uk absolutely welcomes the secretary of state's ambition on cancer. we and others have been flagging for some time the real challenges this country has faced in relation to access to diagnosis, treatment and care for cancer. that's only been exacerbated by the pandemic. it's important to note that even before the pandemic we were struggling to hit cancer waiting times. the pandemic has really exposed the challenge. what we want to see the secretary of

and when the first minister resigns, that automatically means that the deputy first minister, michelle o'neilling through the stormont assembly ahead of whenever it is dissolved at the end of march for the scheduled assembly election. massive questions. other parties at stormont are strongly critical of the dup for what is potentially going to happen later on today, but the dup say that they have been warning for many weeks now that they would pull ministers out of government if there wasn't sufficient movement in their view towards scrapping the irish sea border checks.— towards scrapping the irish sea border checks. ~ ., , ., , ., border checks. what is the latest on the cheques? _ border checks. what is the latest on the cheques? yesterday, _ border checks. what is the latest on the cheques? yesterday, in - border checks. what is the latest on the cheques? yesterday, in other i border checks. what is the latest on i the cheques? yesterday, in other dup minister ordered _ the cheques? yesterday, in other dup minister ordered his _ the cheques? yesterday, in other dup minister ordered his off