after martin mcguinness‘s death in march, arlene foster shook hands with his successor, michelle o'neille two leaders haven't proved able to overcome their difference. the democratic unionists now hold the balance of power on the green benches at westminster, but back at stormont the blue benches of the northern ireland assembly remain empty, with civil servants running the administration on a day—to—day basis. there is a real imperative to get back to business, but we don't know what shape or form that will take, as neither sinn fein nor the dup see any sign of softening their positions, and the secretary of state has made no further moves towards impositioning direct rule. during stormont‘s year in the doldrums, the politicians who are meant to meet here have continued to get paid. recently, an official report recommended that those salaries should be cut by a third. however, what impact that might have on this assembly that never sits remains farfrom certain. mark devenport, bbc news, stormont. proposals to ban parents and carers in wales from smacking their children have been publish

after martin mcguinness's death in march, arlene foster shook hands with his successor, michelle o'neillthe democratic unionists now hold the balance of power on the green benches at westminster, but back at stormont the blue benches of the northern ireland assembly remain empty, with civil servants running the administration on a day—to—day basis. there is a real imperative to get back to business, but we don't know what shape or form that will take, as neither sinn fein nor the dup see any sign of softening their positions, and the secretary of state has made no further moves towards impositioning direct rule. during stormont‘s year in the doldrums, the politicians who are meant to meet here have continued to get paid. recently, an official report recommended that those salaries should be cut by a third. however, what impact that might have on this assembly that never sits remains farfrom certain. mark devenport, bbc news, stormont. england's head cricket coach trevor bayliss says he plans to step down after the 2019 ashes series. the 55—year—old, who was appointed in 2015, told the en

in fact, during an question and answer session who michelle o‘neill... to the victims and relatives of those who died at kingsmill. thank you for that. in a moment, jamie has the business news but first, the headlines on afternoon live. as theresa may continues to reshuffle her cabinet, jeremy hunt is staying as health secretary but has a new title of secretary of state for health and social care. david lidington has been appointed cabinet office minister. brandon lewis is the party chairman. in other news, ape —— in other news, a muslim couple who met other dating site have been convicted of planning a terror attack in the uk. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live: vauxhall is cutting another 250 jobs at its ellesmere port car plant, which makes the astra car, car on top of the a00 jobs it announced in october. the carmaker, now owned by france‘s psa group — said it needed to "accelerate the recovery of plant productivity". british businesses are more confident about their future. that‘s according to the industry group, the eef. new figures s