good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. alison saunders — the director of public prosecutions for england and wales — is to step down from the role later this year. her five years in charge have been marked by a series of controversies — most recently the collapse of a number of high profile rape cases — where prosecutors had failed to disclose evidence to the defence. but alison saunders has defended her time in charge saying criticism is an ‘insult‘ to her six thousand staff in the crown prosecution service. here's our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman. alison saunders, the head of crown prosecution service, announced her departure facing down criticism of her record r our performance across the last five years has been as good as if not improving, despite the cuts that we have taken over that period. and we have prosecutors who come to work every day who make

important decisions about people's lives, who do so professionally and well. dealt a tough hand, she inherited big cuts, losing hundreds of staff. but her time has been dogged by controversies. her decision that his dementia meant it wasn't in the public interest to prosecute lord janner over allegations of sexual abuse was overturned. he was to face a limited trial of the facts before his death. she has been a disappointing dpp it is the opinion of the profession as a whole and it comes from the policy that all complainants should be believed. they need to be considered. otherwise it leads to injustice. it was the collapse of a series of rape cases because of failures by police and prosecutors to disclose evidence to the defence that led to the most recent criticism. it prompted an urgent

review of all rape and serious sexual assault cases. after five yea rs sexual assault cases. after five years heading the crown prosecution service, alison saunders when leave the service when it is under sbrens scrutiny. and clive's here now. clive what do you think lies behind this decision 7 she had a five—year term and will serve that term. but the crown prosecution service is under heat on disclosure. it means crown prosecution service to fulfil their duty give any evidence that assists the defence case or undermines the prosecution case. we have a review into sexual assault cases by the attorney general. i think that this issue will run and run well beyond october when alison saunders leaves and maybe something of a relief that she won't have to deal with it after that time. thank you. doctors say the nhs in england is likely to see its winter crisis extend

into the summer because of continuing pressures on the system. figures analysed by the british medical association show that hospitals can expect similar problems with a&e attendances, waiting times and admissions reaching alarming numbers this summer. the government says it's planning to increase the funding to the nhs by £10 billion a year by 2020. richard lister reports. how does that feel? winter always puts hospitals under pressure. this was university hospital of north tees injanuary, one of many in england battling one of the most difficult winter seasons yet, with flu and norovirus forcing evermore people to seek treatment. but the british medical association says without more money for the nhs now, this winter overcrowding will roll into the summer too. the numbers of patients attending a&e, the numbers waiting more than four hours to be admitted, will be as great as the winter months, and we are likely to see trolley waiting times and

pressures on beds similar to the winters of 2015 and 2016. looking at the past five years of data in england, the bma forecasts that between july and september this year, there could be up to 6.2 million visits to a&e, resulting more than 750,000 people having to wait more than four hours to be seen, and almost 150,000 spending that time on a hospital trolley. those waiting times are more than 5% higher than the government's official targets, and the bma says funding cuts over decades have resulted in insufficient doctors and hospital beds to meet demand. the winter crisis, it warns, could be here to stay. the staff themselves seem to be working incredibly hard. the worry is that they are just running on empty, and it's... it's difficult to see how they are going to be able to keep going. i've got no complaints

at the moment, but if i had a chronic health condition, i would be concerned about increased waiting times. it's no secret that demand for hospital care is growing. the government says it recognises that, too, and injected an extra £2.8 billion into nhs england last year, to be followed by another £10 billion in the budget from 2020. but the bma's concern that money may be too little, too late. the demands on the nhs in england are becoming overwhelming, it says, and it may no longer rely on the summer months to take the pressure off. richard lister, bbc news. the trade war between the us and china is heating up after beijing imposed a raft of tariffs of up to 25% on over 120 products — including american pork, wine and fruit. coming into force today it's a direct response to president trump's decision to put tariffs on chinese steel and aluminium. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, is here. jonathan, we've been expecting a response from the chinese, but how much impact is this likely to have? well if you take pork for example,

one of the product wis china has imposed a 25% tariff on, that industry in the united states israels about, worth about $20 billion a year. exports to china are around $1 billion and it supports over 100,000 jobs. so it could have an impact on the pig farmers in the united states and the amount of pork they can sell in china. of course if that market goes it will be hard to get it back again. these tariffs are in response to president trump's announcement to impose tariffs on imports of steel from china. but this is only phase one of what has become a tit—for—tat battle. the united states has announced further products to put tariffs on. there is

a possibility that the two sides will negotiate, but other sectors of manufacturing in the united states are warning further tariffs could hurt them. thank you. two men were killed on the m62 near bradford in the early hours of this morning after a crash involving a car driving the wrong way down the motorway. a 22—year—old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after failing a roadside breath test. there's been another sign of improving relations between north and south korea with a rare public appearance by kim jong—un at a performance by south korean pop stars in pyeongyang. the north korean leader clapped along, then met the performers back stage. it's the first time foreign music stars have performed in the country in more than a decade. it comes ahead of a meeting between the leaders of the two koreas later this month. britain's biggest teaching union has warned that growing levels of poverty are having a significant impact on children's learning. 0ne head teacher said some pupils

are so malnourished, they're filling their pockets with food from school canteens. the government says it is supporting initiatives such as breakfast clubs to help the most disadvantaged children. marc ashdown reports. "heartbreaking." that's how some teachers have described child poverty and how it's affecting their ability to learn. this snapshot survey of 900 heads, teachers, and support staff in england, wales, and northern ireland, found 87% think poverty is having a significant impact on learning. 60% believe the situation has worsened since 2015. in their responses, teachers talk of children coming to class with pale faces, dirty clothes, and worn—out shoes. a growing number of schools say they're now setting up clothes banks and food banks to support struggling parents. heads say it's having a wider effect on school budgets, with teachers having to intervene to make sure children are getting the basics. one of the problems that we have now

is the capacity of other agencies to support us as they used to is not there. we're becoming social workers. not "becoming," we are social workers. members of staff are becoming social workers. putting their hand in their own pocket to support children with christmas presents, with food, with uniforms, and that, in 2018, should not be happening. the department for education says it is continuing to support the most the country's most disadvantaged children through free school meals, pupil premiums, and a new £26 million fund to launch of improve 1,700 breakfast clubs. marc ashdown, bbc news. with all the sport, here's holly hamilton at the bbc sport centre. the 21st commonwealth games begin in australia's gold coast on wednesday. thousands of athletes from 71 teams will take part in the largest international event staged in australia for more than a decade. but already there's been an investigation into the discovery

of syringes at the athletes' village, as our correspondent hywel griffith reports. there may be two days to go, but already the games has had its first scandal after syringes were found by a cleaner. it is not known yet what they contained. but it has threatened to take the shine off the city's moment in the sun. the gold coast wa nts city's moment in the sun. the gold coast wants the games to sell the allure of its sand and surf. more than a billion pounds it being spent to do that. much of it on upgrades and rebuilds, rather than brand—new stadiums. the question we had, do we need an 80,000 seat stadium. we will never need one. so we have taken an existing football stadium and that is all we need. they are used to big

budget products here, the pirates of the caribbean was filmed here. but 110w the caribbean was filmed here. but now they have squash and table tennis at the biggest sound stage in the area. money well spend? yes without a doubt. first regional city to host the commonwealth games. hopefully the world will see what a great place it is and we do a great job. the image they want the world to see in the games is a sun—kissed city riped for investment but underpinning this is a massive security operation. 0ne underpinning this is a massive security operation. one and a half million spectators will be under the surveillance of a cctv system using facial recognition technology. most

are keen to focus on the sport. for this athlete it is a home games. he represents england, but grew up on the gold coast. they love their sport. the lifestyle is different. you get grandmas and grand—dads running up and down the beach. australia's love of sport has been tested of late by its cricketers. as the push for gold medals starts, the nation hopes this is where it can find some new heroes. cricket now and england will look to end their winless winter of test cricket when they take to the field on the final day of the second test against new zealand. after setting a record chase for their hosts, england stuttered with the ball as patrick gearey explains. watching england has not been a co mforta ble watching england has not been a comfortable experience this winter, so comfortable experience this winter, $03 comfortable experience this winter, so a chance to loosen the seat belt. england were soon cruising at around

250 runs a head. joe root passed 50. celebrated with restraint. but both men left the runs out. there mallan went first, followed by root. but the lead and dwindling time meant there was freedom to take risks, there was freedom to take risks, there is the catch. stokes made only 12. bairstow pushed on with the tail. the action grew frenetic. 0ne ball wood hit. the next new zealand did. by the time bairstow was out, england were 381 runs ahead and the captain called them in. new zealand's turn. now it was about time and wickets. england needed ten and had four sessions to take them. the batsmen had to hang on. a flicker of a chance. then the

umpires decided the light had gone. england have a day to get them out before the sun finally sets on this tour. that's all the sport for now. that's it. the next news is at 6pm. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. goodbye. the nhs in england could see this yea r‘s the nhs in england could see this year's winter pressures extended the summer. year's winter pressures extended the summer. difficulties experience in the winter months... the nhs has been given an extra £2.8 million on top ofan been given an extra £2.8 million on top of an extra £10 billion plan by 2020. we're using figures from nhs

england themselves, so we're not making up these figures. we looked at the best and worst case scenarios, and whichever way you look at it, the reality is is that patients are likely to see pressures in the summer which in the past we only saw in winter months. so we're likely to see patients waiting for more than four hours in a&e units, similarto more than four hours in a&e units, similar to previous winters, to the onejust gone, long similar to previous winters, to the one just gone, long waiting times on trolleys to be admitted, and pressures in terms of hospital capacity and in community services, gp practices. this is likely to be a year—long crisis and we needed to be addressed. is this down to a winter overspill? things that normally would have happened in the winter that you simply have not been able to do? no, what this is showing is a

gross mismatch between capacity on demand in the nhs, which is notjust a winter issue. we spend £10 billion less on our health service compared to other eu averages. that would translate into having 35,000 fewer hospital beds, 10,000 fewer doctors. we have fewer social care facilities. we don't have enough gps 01’ facilities. we don't have enough gps or community nurses, so when you add that all up, it's no surprise that what we're witnessing is this congestion and inability to deliver on the needs of the population. the department of health is saying that the nhs has been given an extra £2.8 billion, and that's on top of a planned £10 billion a year increased by 2020. is that not that kind of financial long—term planning that will make a difference? far from it! ijust mention that

will make a difference? far from it! i just mention that we are spending £10 billion less than an average eu nation. nhs england's own boss, simon stephens, whom the government appointed to run the nhs, has called foran appointed to run the nhs, has called for an immediate £4 billion spend to simply stand still. the sort of figures that are being presented by government at the moment are just woefully inadequate, and in fact, we'll simply exacerbate the problem. what we must see is real, tangible resources . what we must see is real, tangible resources. we have heard from the prime minister a commitment to long—term funding for the nhs. we need to translate that into reality and get the realfigures need to translate that into reality and get the real figures that will allow for the real resources the nhs needs in terms of more doctors, nurses, staff, hospital beds, social ca re nurses, staff, hospital beds, social care facilities, general practice facilities, until we have the infrastructure that other nations ta ke infrastructure that other nations take for granted. we won't see an

end to this problem. would you acknowledge that there are still structural, organisational changes that need to be made? we can always look at being... making use of the taxpayers' resource more efficiently, but whichever way you look at it, you cannot get round the fa ct look at it, you cannot get round the fact that we are grossly under resourced compared to just an average nation in europe that is able to provide the sort of service we would want to. you know, france and germany are spending about £20 billion each year on the health service compared to the uk, so that will translate into the problems we have. we are tens of thousands of doctors and hospital beds short. of course, we can make best use of our money, but i think we are already stretching the money as best as we can. the real need isjust to stretching the money as best as we can. the real need is just to get the infrastructure right and have, asi the infrastructure right and have, as i said, the staff and facilities to look after our patients.

china has imposed $3 billion worth of taxes on us products in response to donald trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium from china. there are concerns that such actions could spark a global trade war. i've been getting the thoughts of the shanghai bureau chief that the financial times. the overall total, the total value of these 128 products is only about $3 billion, calibrated to match the size of steel and aluminium products from china to the us, which the trump administration sanctioned with new tariffs are a couple of weeks ago. we have seen china trying to take the moral high road on the global stage so that they can prevent us allies in europe andjapan they can prevent us allies in europe and japan from joining the fight against china. there may be more

coming from washington, by the sounds of it. that is exactly right. it's important to note that the terrorists we saw today from china area terrorists we saw today from china are a response to the first round of turrets, the so—called section 232 ta riffs turrets, the so—called section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium imported from china, and that was ostensibly taken on national security grounds, but we have already seen, since then, another round of tariffs from the white house, the so—called section 301 ta riffs house, the so—called section 301 tariffs around intellectual property, which are restricting us imports of technology products from china, so we have yet to see the chinese response to that second round of us tariffs. you're right, the tit—for—tat is expected, and its $60 billion worth of tariffs in the second round from the us administration, so we can expect a similar value in the second round of retaliation from china. president trump has indicated that he doesn't necessarily think the trade war would be a bad thing and that if it happens the us would probably win

it. do you think he is right? think there is a kernel of truth to the point president trump made on twitter, though he received widespread ridicule for it. the kernel of truth is that because china runs such a large deficit with the us, excuse me be, because the us ru ns the us, excuse me be, because the us runs such a large deficit with china is an china runs such a large surplus, china has more to lose from a trade war because the trade surplus is adding to chinese gdp, whereas the trade deficit is subtracting from us gdp. in that sense, because the us is already in a weak position, they have less to lose. however, economists tell me that the measures the white house has taken before aren't the smartest way to wage a trade battle, so there are more intelligent ways to try to close the us global trade deficit. in that sense, even though the us

has built—in advantages, it's not clear that they know how to press those advantages to actually win the war. this seems to be heading in one direction at the moment. how might it be reversed ? direction at the moment. how might it be reversed? i think a lot of a nalysts it be reversed? i think a lot of analysts see the first couple of rounds of tariffs from the white house as a negotiating tactic. trump, of course, touts himself as a master negotiator. i think he wants to strike some fear into his chinese counterpart and bring them to the table, perhaps to trade some concessions on trade on the us side for some additional help with north korea on the chinese side. perhaps he is willing to offer some support for the chinese position on taiwan in exchange for trade concessions from china. i think everything is on the table, and even the tariffs announced so far, in themselves, would have a major economic impact. what we have seen from markets is

concern about what might be coming down the line, but i don't think either side actually want a trade war. i think the goal is to try to strike a negotiating posture. the first space station china launched into orbit is no more. it has been falling towards earth for two years and has finally re—entered the atmosphere over the south pacific. it's thought most of the tiangong one broke up on entry, though some fragments could be intact. more than 7.5 tonnes of redundant space hardware is thought to be circling the earth. a satellite is going into orbit this evening to try and track the day brie and catch it, asjonathan amos reports. it's getting extremely busy up in space.

it's notjust the working satellites, but all the debris from past missions as well. more than 7,500 tons of redundant hardware are now thought to be circling earth. it's material that poses a collision hazard, with the danger of creating even more debris. that's where this small european satellite comes in. known as "remove debris," it's been developed at the university of surrey. it'll demonstrate technologies that enable it to monitor, approach and ensnare junk. in one experiment, it'll eject an object and then throw a net around it. in another test, it'll fire a harpoon at a target to see how such projectiles behave in space. once these demonstrations are finished, the remove debris satellite will ensure it doesn't add to the problem by deploying a giant sail. this will drag in the upper atmosphere and pull the satellite rapidly down to earth. the remove debris spacecraft will be stored at the international space station for a few weeks before beginning its experiments in late may. jonathan amos, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to brad tucker, an

astrophysicist at australian national university, who told me about the re—entry of the abandoned space lab over the south pacific, and the debris circling the earth. it was designed to land in the pacific ocean, which is where all spacecraft go. we have had this period of just over two spacecraft go. we have had this period ofjust over two years of unknowns because they lost control. it is important to be clear: 0ne unknowns because they lost control. it is important to be clear: one of the reasons china went to the un in 2016 and said they knew it was uncontrolled was reporter other groups saying that it was, then they confirm that. further observations over the past couple of months, and especially leading up to the re—entry, showed that the spacecraft was tumbling. in orderfor it re—entry, showed that the spacecraft was tumbling. in order for it to re—entry, showed that the spacecraft was tumbling. in orderfor it to do that, it is an indication that you do not have control, so something went wrong. it's not necessarily an embarrassment, but they weren't quite open in saying, yes, we did lose control. in fact, there were reports last month from china saying

they did still have control, and there to still at night it was a p pa re ntly there to still at night it was apparently clear that it was not the case. nevertheless, it ended at its intended target and all was ok. the u nfortu nate intended target and all was ok. the unfortunate chance of having some footage of this thing re—entering was missed and that was a great disappointment. most of it burns up, but do we know of little bits of debris came down? i haven't heard of any solid evidence of day brie landing. there would only be about 800 kilograms that would have made it. we're talking about peace is the size of small bits of paper and it would look like normal rubbish. if you were looking for it, you wouldn't notice it. it has probably sunkin wouldn't notice it. it has probably sunk in the ocean now, so i would be surprised if we ever saw any bits of it. this is contrary to the us skyla b it. this is contrary to the us skylab which crashed into western australia here in 1979, where people still have souvenirs at home. it was

at different ceremonial end, and i think it is probably the last we will hear of it, tiangong one. what of the wider issue of redundant space hardware and this bed now by this uk led research team to do something about it?|j this uk led research team to do something about it? i think what they're planning something about it? i think what they‘ re planning is something about it? i think what they're planning is great. this is they're planning is great. this is the highlight of the problem — there are bits, notjust small ones but large ones, floating out there. in 2009, a defunct russian cosmos communications satellite crashed into a communications satellite crashed intoa us communications satellite crashed into a us satellite, so the first crash between two satellites in 2009, which produced 7000 pieces of debris. there are about 13,000 defunct satellites in orbit, so what do you do with those? the idea that there is a group to try and solve this is great. we could look towards the rocket boosters which are a large source of debris. groups like space x, elon musk‘s space company,

that brings boosters down to the ground to be reused means it is not a piece of debris. there could be a chain reaction and we could no longer be able to launch things out of the earth. the current model is around 2035, which sounds far away, but in 2035, we could lose satellite communications. we are showing lovely graphics of something being harpooned in space — is that feasible? it is, and the great thing is that even though at the height we're talking there is still a little atmosphere and a little friction, it is still pretty much a manoeuvrable environment that you can grasp onto these things and then let the atmosphere take care of it, so let the atmosphere take care of it, so building these small satellites which when you want to d orbit —— ta ke which when you want to d orbit —— take them out of orbit, they will crash into the atmosphere. this year, we will see 100—120 rocket

launchers, putting up to 500 satellites into orbit, and that will double next year. we have to plan efficiently what we will do with the stuff left out there, and how do we prevent more potential issues like tiangong one? in the future, the international space station will come down, and it will be much bigger than what we saw today. that was brad tucker in canberra. now, the weather. some of us started this easter monday with heavy rain, others with a covering of snow but it is mainly outbreaks of rain as we go through the afternoon. snow on the high hills but particularly in scotland and this afternoon and evening, we could well see some of that snow falling to lower levels, even in the central belt as well, so keep monitoring the situation if you have

got travel plans. southern parts of the uk brightening up a little bit with a few showers but the milder air is reaching new. moving through the night further snow in scotland could lead to some significantjimmy leisha is in the highlands, so, a chilly night to come here. further showers with some sunny spells through the day tomorrow. big range of temperatures.