the full face veil. today, they decreed that all women must cover their places with a veil in public and they laid out an escalating series of punishments for any woman not complying. the united states has called for northern ireland's leaders to return to power sharing. it follows sinn fein�*s historic victory in the election to the northern ireland assembly. it is the first time a nationalist party in northern ireland has won the most seats. our correspondent chris page reports, and a warning — there is some flash photography. smiles, flashes and cheers, were the sure—fire signs of sinn fein�*s success. cheering the party has retained its 27 seats, and that is enough to top the table. for the first time, a party which is dedicated to taking northern ireland out of the uk is the biggest political force here. it's a huge historic moment for irish nationalism and a massively symbolic shift. sinn fein�*s vice president, michelle o'neill, is in line to become the first minister. no nationalist has ever won the post before. today ushers in a new era, which i believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, on the basis of equality, and on the basis of social justice. irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work. cheering another major indication of change is the surge of the party which is neither unionist nor nationalist. alliance has more than doubled its number of seats, moving from fifth place to third in the assembly. its leaders said the breakthrough had come after many years�* work. people wrote us off and said that there was no future for a shared future in northern ireland, and we've proven them wrong. it's taken us a while to get here, but we're here now, and i think we have proven there is a third way in politics here. but the democratic unionist party has lost about a fifth of its support. a strong focus of its campaign was its opposition to the brexit trade border with the rest of the uk, known as the northern ireland protocol. the dup says it'll block the formation of a devolved government until checks on goods are scrapped. but it's shed votes to a more hard—line party — the traditional unionist voice, which claims the dup has been too weak on the issue. we will accept the outcome of the election. however, our position remains that we need to remove the long shadow of the protocol that is inhibiting our ability to operate and function properly within the political institutions, and the sooner that happens, the sooner we'll be in a position to move forward. under the power—sharing rules at stormont, unionists and nationalists have to agree to run northern ireland jointly before ministers can take up their positions. but the politicians who've been elected are unlikely to get to govern any time soon. the dup is even less likely to go into a coalition now that sinn fein is in front. after the disappointment and delight of today, the future is an unclear picture. chris page, bbc news. in the years before its rise, sinn fein was a party ostracised by many in the political sphere. during the 30 year conflict in northern ireland known as the "troubles" it was seen as being associated with a campaign of violence. but once the party decided on a way forward through politics, and in the 1980s had members elected as mps, it began to gain popularity. our ireland correspondent emma vardy looks back — her report contains flashing images. steeped in the violence of the past, sinn fein�*s political aims were born out of a northern ireland's darkest days. the freedom fighters of the ira are now continuing the struggle against foreign occupation and domination! during the 30 year conflict here, sinn fein were the voice of the paramilitary group the ira... explosions ..who fought an armed campaign to try to break british rule in northern ireland. gerry adams, the leader of sinn fein during some of the worst of the ira violence, became both a hated and revered figure. i haven't gone away, you know! today, the ira dead are remembered at the republican plot in milltown cemetery. many who served time in prison on their release became involved in the political movement to achieve a united ireland through peaceful means. those were very, very formative days and clearly the idea that we have to move forward politically is very much entrenched now in republican ideology. sinn fein sees the conflict as having been a legitimate armed struggle but the party now strongly advocates peace. what's been key to their success, do you think? there's that organic link. sinn fein republican activists were part of the community. in the 1990s, sinn fein played a key role in bringing about the good friday agreement, which largely ended the violence. in the years after, their support at the ballot box grew. martin mcguinness, a former commander in the ira, became deputy first minister, sharing power with the dup. for those who remember the past, sinn fein still deeply divide opinion but in the party today, there are far fewer elected representatives who were involved in the armed conflict and their electoral success is a new milestone in what has been a remarkable political journey. if we look back to the good friday agreement, they would have been ex—prisoners, they would have been people who would have had links to that sort of republican wing of sinn fein/the ira. what we see now is a very young party, a very progressive party. it's full of young women — the two leaders are women, both of whom have no connection to that sort of previous past. but sinn fein�*s successes a blow for unionism. the immediate challenge for the party's current leaders will be to form a new power—sharing executive at stormont and governing in the first minister role may yet be some way off. i've been speaking to niall carson, who's a photo journalist with the press association from dublin. i asked what this election means for ireland, north — and south — of the border. it is very interesting because it could be here in the southern parliaments because sinn fein are riding very high in the polls at the minute here, higher than the government, the two government parties. there is not an election due for another three years but definitely it is causing a bit of a stir anyway, bit of a debate about the prospect of a referendum, you know. how did you view the voting that took place in northern ireland 7 is this unionist sending a very strong message as well or are people beginning to vote about other things? is this about voting for the right on the left, perhaps? voting for various policies on this about the politics. yes, there is a bit of that. northern ireland has never really had the left right divide that you see in, for instance, america. elections have always been on the constitutional question but as younger people who grew up not involved in the trouble is, a lot more of them are voting for centrist parties like the alliance party who don't designate themselves unionist or nationalists and they have come out as the third block in this election that is going to make a very interesting make up to the northern ireland assembly if it does get up and running again, as there will be different priorities and there won't be as much squabbling between the two main parties because there will be a third block now to kind of mediate and that is the way it is in a lot of our local councils and a lot have the casting vote and decisions get made which were blocked for years. ukraine and russia say a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the besieged azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of mariupol has been completed. ukraine said that all elderly people, women and children had been taken to safety, a total of more than 300 people. those evacuated are relieved to be leaving the city. i was going to the market when i saw a large crowd of people and i asked them where they were going and they said there was a possibility of going to the city. i was so excited. i had nothing with me except this bag and i decided, all right, if my house is already burned, it is going to waste anyway. we were surviving although this time. for two weeks we have been living in a basement then russians came and helped us leave. mall and got on this bus. eight children were sitting in a basement for two weeks without water, bread, nothing. afterwards we were going to the city and next we don't know. we will see if someone will help us. their departure comes after heavy russian bombardment of the plant in recent weeks. many civilians have gone to the city of zaporizhzhia. 0ur correspondent, laura bicker is there. we've heard from ukrainian officials that women and children have been allowed out and they say that all of them have made it out of the steel plan. remember these are people who have been inside come in the dark, in these maze—like tunnels far more than 60 days. they finally got out. we heard from the ukrainian fighters who have said on social media they have given an idea of how this works. they say there are white likes to signal civilians were on their way. that would imply a degree of coordination between these two sides, however, over the past few days there are reports that russia has continued to shell the steel plant. certainly when you've seen some of the pictures you've seen smoke still rising from this plant. there are still around 2000, thought to be 2000 ukrainian fighters inside hiding internals who have vowed not to surrender. we have heard from their families, we have had from their mothers and their wives who have pleaded for them to get out alive. president zelensky said today that he was negotiating for their release. but now there are fears that these civilians are out, what is russia going to do. there is no doubt that winning the entire port of mariupol ahead of the may the ninth victory day celebrations would be hugely symbolic for vladimir putin. so some are wondering, now that the civilians are out, what will happen to that planned and what will happen to these fighters and it may be that any negotiations under way are a race against time. liam collins is a retired colonel and special forces officer, who has served in a variety of operations and multiple combat operations to afghanistan, iraq and bosnia among others during his 27 year career. he has also worked extensively with ukraine to introduce substantial reforms within its military after russia annexed crimea. he's in wisconsin. during that victory parade president putin will declare victory, no doubt about it. a pot he probably wanted to do was declare victory over ukraine. is it going well for the ukrainians werejust ukraine. is it going well for the ukrainians were just the russians, do you think? it is both, right. _ russians, do you think? it 3 both, right. ukrainians are performing very well and is expected based on their effort to be from the military after its poor performance back in 2014, it is a story of utter ineptness from the russians of just not performing. they don't have a well led army. use of corruption by the generals. they are not well trained and they are underperforming and thatis they are underperforming and that is something they can't turn around in a matter of months. turn around in a matter of months-— turn around in a matter of months. ., , ., months. mariupol has remained is an awful _ months. mariupol has remained is an awful lot _ months. mariupol has remained is an awful lot of— months. mariupol has remained is an awful lot of people - months. mariupol has remained is an awful lot of people of - is an awful lot of people of aleppo in syria and what was left of that. russian bombers were involved in that. is this russia's tactic? will we see more and more of the situation of cities and towns across ukraine or is he changing his tactics? ., ., , tactics? no. you will see continued _ tactics? no. you will see continued russian - tactics? no. you will see . continued russian bombing. tactics? no. you will see - continued russian bombing. that is part of war in cities and it is part of war in cities and it is not unusual in anywhere from 80-90% of is not unusual in anywhere from 80—90% of buildings to be damaged or destroyed and that is how russia operates but there are still a handful of fighters that are going to hold out so russia does not have mariupol yet despite what they are claiming and what they might try to claim a victory day. it will be over the hard fade to get those fighters out of the. over the tough challenge.— of the. over the tough challenge. joe biden this promising _ challenge. joe biden this promising more - challenge. joe biden this promising more support| challenge. joe biden this . promising more support and military support. he's been talking about this land lease bill. we saw something similar at the end of world war ii. is that all ukrainians, do you think? to keep russia of ukrainian soil or as much of it as possible?— ukrainian soil or as much of it as possible? yes. i mean, two thins, as possible? yes. i mean, two things. right? _ as possible? yes. i mean, two things, right? despite - as possible? yes. i mean, two things, right? despite them i things, right? despite them doing so well there are losing weapon systems and the need to replace those weapon systems. they are facing a much larger russian military despite them being much better so as long as they can replace those weapon systems and get new capabilities to be able to defend against russia. they're really pushing the russians back out to the point where the russians are pulling out to prevent ukrainian counterattack and pushing them to the border so it is a big hit on the training economy. they are fighting a war. the economy is not able to produce severe so that they need the support from the us and other nations. you worked extensively with ukraine and brought in some substantial forms to its military after russia annexed crimea. how do you think the performances right now? we have seen a lot of cities and towns fold but they have got a lot of them back, haven't they? there have been performing very well. they are much smaller force. been performing very well. they are much smallerforce. the entire military is 200,000. they defend the entire border. it is the 2000 mile border with belarus and russia. at the onset of the more they not defend at the border. it is not possible. so they concentrated on the major objectives. kyiv and other cities and the push the russians away from capital and now they're doing the same thing. that was the goal all along and they're fighting it very well. defend what they have to be smart with counterattacks and continue to push russia back. we will see the ukrainians being more successful counterattacks as they are able to get these weapon systems. so many refugees _ weapon systems. so many refugees in _ weapon systems. so many refugees in european - weapon systems. so many - refugees in european countries at the moment along the border of ukraine. theyjust want at the moment along the border of ukraine. they just want to go home. theyjust want peace. they don't want war. how long to think their weight is going to think their weight is going to be? in your experience of conflict, is this going to be like guerrilla warfare that just goes on with street fighting for months if not years or is there an endgame coming? years or is there an endgame cominu ? ., ., ,, ., coming? no, i mean, ukraine will not concede _ coming? no, i mean, ukraine will not concede territory. - will not concede territory. that will be guerrilla territory until the russians give up that territory or the ukrainians counterattack and are able to take it back. it is going to be a long fight and the war probably won't go on as long as the decade but in the donbas that lasted eight years and ukraine did not get it back so unfortunately it will last longer than most people think. are great to talk to you. you for giving the time to the bbc. thank you. in afghanistan, the taliban have ordered women to cover their faces with a veil when in public, warning that if they fail to do so, their male relatives could be jailed for three days. women's rights activists have reacted with dismay. 0ur afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani, sent this report from kabul. the clothes afghan women wear have been fiercely debated and fought over. this is a conservative country and many wear the blue burqa or cover their face. but in big cities, like in this market in kabul, many others choose just to cover their hair. translation: humans are born free. - no—one has the right to talk about women's clothes. at the ministry of prevention of vice and promotion of virtue, the taliban announced the veil would be compulsory. any woman repeatedly not complying could see their male relatives jailed. many women in afghanistan do wear the burqa already, but many others don't — theyjust cover their hair — and they see that as being perfectly in accordance with islamic and afghan values. so, who are you to tell them how they should be dressing? translation: in afghanistan, 99% of women follow - the correct hijab. the other i%, we request them to implement this decree. this is not our order, but the order of god. when they took power last august, it initially appeared as if the taliban were much less strict than they were 20 years ago. but in recent weeks, their ministry of vice and virtue has been issuing more and more hardline decrees, governing in particular the lives of afghan women. the schools need to be open, there is famine all over this country. there are suicide bombings. there are so many other problems. instead of looking after that, they are always after women. teenage girls have still not been allowed back to school. many worry that the fragile progress made on women's rights here is now unravelling. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. a pro—bejing election committee in hong kong is beginning to choose a new city leader — and we already know the result asjohn lee, a former deputy head of police — he's the only candidate. the current leader , carrie lam , oversaw the implementation of a controversial national security law that led to huge protests against the territory's government in 2019. the journalist ilaria maria sala explained to us how the election is being received by the public in hong kong. it is not for the proper to call it an election because, as you mention, there is only one candidate and very few voters. the committee of 1500 people, a little less, is going to choose to approve this choice. that has already been pre—made. so if you have the police have decided to put out a lot of security, we are hearing about 7000 police men and women are out in force to make sure that nothing untoward happens. the mood in hong kong is of a certain degree of indifference because there is absolutely no say in this exercise. do you think we are, despite the police presence, likely to see anger over the selection if we can call it. do you think that anger is likely to spill out on the streets like we saw in 2019? i think that is extremely unlikely. hong kong is a very different place from 2019. there has been no demonstration since then were either approved or even mass demonstrations partially because it is legal and anti—covert sanitary measures and since the enactment of the national security law onjune 30, 2020 this kind of demonstrations have been made largely illegal. also there has been a strong loss of faith if you want to call it that, in power of street demonstrations to actually get the leadership to start a dialogue with the population so i really think this is not going to happen today, there are not going to be protests. the former brazilian president, luiz inacio lula da silva, has launched his campaign to return to power in 0ctober�*s election. in an address to supporters, the left—wing leader urged brazilians to unite behind him to defend democracy and defeat the right—wing incumbent. we have in the past told you about the somewhat unusual sport of wife—carrying. some say it dates back to the age of the vikings — while in modern times it's mostly been popular in finland. but now wife—carrying has gone international. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. this may be an ancient tradition going back more than ten centuries, or it mayjust be a practicaljoke that originated somewhere near helsinki. either way, wife carrying has its fans. you don't actually have to tie the knot to take part but whatever your marital status, it is supposed to be good for team building. i think the big interest is due to the fact that couples can leave their comfort zone. they�* re very close to each other, so husband and wife can function as a unit. here in hungary contestants race along a 260 metre course with both obstacles and water hazards. some carry the product piggyback. 0thers try what is termed the estonian method, only the so—called wife is upside down. that does come with some issues. i think it is a lot more uncomfortable for my partner because the weight is on my shoulder it is easy for me to run said this competitor. what is your tactic for when your head goes underwater? take a deep breath, she replies. wife carrying is not without its critics. some say it is old—fashioned or even sexist. but for the winners this could be the beginning of something beautiful. that is the latest from the bbc. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @chrisrogersnews. hello there. we'll be heading through the remainder of the weekend on a largely dry and settled note before more rain works in from the north—west by monday. for the here and now, this is how we ended saturday evening. beautiful sunset in east ayrshire there, and through the course of sunday, we're looking at another largely dry settled day with some sunny spells around just one or two isolated showers. we've got a weak weather front just trying to nudge in from the north—west, but not really making inroads because high pressure is in charge and that's sitting out to the east. the lowest temperatures first thing sunday morning will be across eastern scotland and eastern england, mid—single figures, but further west most places starting off the day just about in double figures. any early morning mist and fog will lift fairly quickly and the day will warm up as the sunshine spreads across the uk, a little bit cloudier across the far north—west of the western isles, the northern isles as well. but through the day, fair—weather cloud bubbles up and that mayjust be enough to produce one or two isolated showers for wales, parts of south—west england, northern england into southern scotland. but most places are going to avoid any of those showers, temperatures in the mid teens around the east coast, but we could see 20 degrees inland. sunday evening and overnight into monday now and things remain largely dry and clear again some mist and some fog patches. but you'll notice the cloud thickening from the northwest as this weather front spread some rain into northern ireland and north—west scotland to start off monday morning. mild, breezy and rather damp in the northwest cooler, clearer conditions down towards the south—east. so monday's weather then will be dominated still by high pressure sitting out to the east. but these more active weather fronts are starting to move in from the atlantic. they're going to bring more cloud to northern ireland and scotland with outbreaks of rain really from the word go, heaviest over coasts and hills in the west, slightly more patchy further east. but much of england and wales keeping the dry weather with some sunny spells. it'll be a little bit warmer, particularly for eastern england, compared to recent days, 20—22 degrees here. but typically the mid teens across scotland and northern ireland. into tuesday and the front tends to make its way further towards the south and the east and then a return to sunny spells and scattered, blustery showers from the northwest. temperatures coming down a little bit in the south, still about 20 degrees or so. typically the mid teens across the north—west of the uk. through the week ahead, then some showers around, especially towards the north and the west. things looking drier, though, further south and east for now. this is bbc news, the headlines: for the first time, the irish nationalist party sinn fein has won the largest number of seats in northern ireland's assembly. sinn fein wants to see the country reunited with the republic of ireland. its president said the momentum for change across the island of ireland was now well—established. ukraine and russia say a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the besieged azovstal steelworks in the city of mariupol has been completed. ukraine said that all elderly people, women and children had been taken to safety. president zelensky said they would now seek to evacuate wounded soldiers. the taliban in afghanistan have ordered all women to veil theirfaces when in public, returning the country to the dress code enforced during their previous time in power.