this is bbc news. the headlines: doctors warn the nhs is facing a year—round crisis — with claims the pressures of winter look set to continue over the summer. we're likely to see trolley waits and pressures on beds similar to the winters of 2015 and 2016. the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, will stand down in october after a series of recent controversies. china hits back at us trade tariffs with new import taxes worth over £2 billion. us pork, nuts and wine are among the products hit, as beijing responds to president trump's duties on steel and aluminium. the m62 near bradford reopens after a crash which killed two people. a man has been arrested. and china's abandoned space lab comes to a fiery end, as it falls to earth over the south pacific. and laura kuenssberg listens to a panel of voters as they discuss their views on brexit.

that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. 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 in 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. alison saunders — the director of public prosecutions for england and wales — is to step down from the role later this year when her contract expires. 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 6,000 staff in the crown prosecution service. here's our legal affairs correspondent, clive coleman. alison saunders, the head of the crown prosecution service, announced her departure, defiantly facing down criticism of her record. 0ur 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 up and down the country who come to work every day, who make really

important decisions about people's lives, he would do so professionally and well. dealt a tough hand, she inherited stringent cuts, losing hundreds of prosecutors and other staff. but her time has been dogged by controversy. her decision that his dementia meant that it wasn't in the public interest to prosecute the late labour peer lord janner over allegations of sexual abuse was overturned. he was to face a limited trial of the facts before his death. well, sadly, she has been a very disappointing dpp. it's notjust my opinion, it's the opinion of the profession as a whole, and it stems from this central policy that all complainants are to be believed. they need to be sifted, they need to be considered. otherwise it will lead to the injustices that my family suffered. it was the collapse of a series of high—profile rape cases, like that of liam allen, because of failures by police and prosecutors to disclose critical evidence critical

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 years heading up what some call the nation's law firm, alison saunders will leave the crown prosecution service when it's under intense scrutiny. clive coleman, bbc news. 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. britain's biggest teaching union has warned that growing levels of poverty are having a significant impact on children's learning. 0ne headteacher 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 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. china has imposed $3 billion worth of new import taxes on a series of us goods in response to president trump's decision to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. beijing claimed the move was necessary to "safeguard" its interests. there are concerns that such actions could spark a global trade war, as our correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonnell, explains. for those who are concerned about an international trade war developing, i think it's fair to say that today is not a very positive day, because, as of now, there are 128 us products which have chinese tariffs on them. and here are some of the numbers...

so, there are 120 products which have a 15% tariff on them, and another eight products with a 25% tariff. now, amongst those with a 25% tariff, we have scrap aluminium and pork. and with a 15% tariff, nuts, fruit, ginseng and wine. but i should stress, this is only china's response to the first round of us tariffs. the trump administration has promised a second round. and of course, beijing will have to respond to that. this is why analysts are worried about a tit—for—tat escalation of tariffs which could blow up into a trade war which draws in other countries, especially those in europe and asia. dr fragkiskos filippaios is an expert in international business at kent business school. does either of these countries

actually want a trade war? the preliminary evidence shows that low, what they are trying to do is to, if ican what they are trying to do is to, if i can use the expression,... the us, when you see the tariffs on steel and aluminium, they are not targeting china. china is less than 1% of exports of steel and aluminium to the us. if you look at the retaliation from china, yes, it includes a number of agricultural goods, but actually it excludes one of the major exports, which is soya beans, close to 50 billion exports from the us to china, and the ta riffs from the us to china, and the tariffs are now imposed on products of about 3 billion. 50 tariffs are now imposed on products of about 3 billion. so it isn't hurting either country at the moment, but it is 13th consumers who buy these goods. calls. laachraoui is hurting consumers last time the us administration tried to impose

steel and aluminium tariffs, which was from the khan bush administration in 2002, there was a substantial negative effect, and there are studies that have demonstrated that, to us consumers. ina demonstrated that, to us consumers. in a trade war, the consumer definitely loses, the final consumer, because they have to pay higher prices. whether that is justifiable by the economic or political gain is, a lot of the time, questionable. the us increasingly exports products like wine. how will that industry suffer? china is a market, but it isn't the biggest market. it's one of the things we would call an emerging market, in terms of wine. chinese consumers are getting accustomed to printing it. it might not have an immediate impact but it might have an impact in the future, especially if the us producers considered china asa

if the us producers considered china as a market for the future for them. it was no surprise, the import ta riffs it was no surprise, the import tariffs on steel, because president trump has been talking about this for a long time, as have other countries. is there a risk that this spreads globally? one interesting thing at the moment is to see where the different countries will position themselves. for example, the aluminium and steel tariffs at the aluminium and steel tariffs at the moment, major exporter to the united states is canada, and one thing that i've written about is that the fact the us are trying to push a political agenda there, because it isn't up for negotiation. the way that the chinese have responded today, targeting particular us products but trying to avoid helping exports from the european union orjapan, it looks like there is a very interesting game there, where other parties, other sides, they will try to get

other sides, they will try to get other countries clustering around them in that trade war, and it will be interesting to see the next couple of moves in terms of the two countries, in order to see who will be their allies in this potential trade war. in the meantime, does the global economy adjust? if you can't get these goods from one country, or they are too expensive, you will look elsewhere. you can'tjust change your production overnight from one location to another. you can't just change your distribution systems. yes, we have moved to a period where, with the internet in companies, it is quicker, but it's actually not that easy, so what we might see in the short term, we might see in the short term, we might see in the short term, we might see significantly higher prices for the final consumer in some of those locations. i think we'll see the political side of this developing as well. we've see whether the two countries might end

up whether the two countries might end up resolving their disputes through the wto. at the moment, the way that those trade disputes should be resolved is through the world trade 0rganisation. there is a clear dispute settlement service. it takes a long time a lot of the time, but it also enables other countries with a vested to participate in negotiations. thank you very much. —— other countries with a vested interest. one of the most senior leaders in north korea has reportedly made a rare apology to visiting south korean journalists prevented from covering sunday's k—pop concert in pyongyang. kim yong—chol said it was wrong to hinder the free media at the event, attended by the north korean leader. the concert is the first in the city in over a decade and took place amid improving relations between the two countries. from seoul, laura bicker reports. these k—pop stars, called red velvet, are known for their raunchy routines. many wondered how this south korean style would go down in the north korean capital. but leader kim jong—un

himself came to watch, welcoming the applause from the invited pyongyang elite as he took his seat. later, as the north korean leader posed for a photo with the group, he described the concert as "a gift". translation: the audience gave us a great response. they clapped a lot and they sang along at the end of the concert. they gave us a big hand even after we left the stage, so i was really touched. but usually being caught with any kind of foreign pop music in north korea is a crime. and kimjong—un has been even tougher than his father. defectors have reported harsh jail sentences. the regime is very guarded about outside influences on its people. so, the more interaction and the more exposure that north korean people get to south koreans, who represent a much freer, richer, you know, more advanced and cosmopolitan

culture than what exists inside north korea, the better. so, one concert is better than nothing. you know, ten concerts would be better than that. and the more the better, basically. this is a pressure point that we should be needling more when we're dealing with north korea. together, the south korean stars sang about a dream of unifying the two koreas divided by war. the hope of the government in seoul is that this kind of exchange will lead to lasting peace on the peninsula. and those taking part hope for more in the future. translation: i think the role of an artist could be more important than that of a politician, who can be very formal. if unification does happen, what both countries can relate and share is culture. i think about how i can be

a little help to that. the audience may be clapping along to the same beat of their neighbours for now, but the two countries have been at this point before. all agree it's a start. but affecting real change on the peninsula will require more than the occasional overture. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. tributes are being paid to the us television producer and writer steven bochco, who has died, aged 7a. he was best known for creating some of america's best—known police dramas, including hill street blues, la law and nypd blue. the ten—time emmy award winner had been suffering from a rare form of leukaemia for several years. the headlines on bbc news: the nhs in england is likely to face a "year—round crisis", as this winter's pressures extend into the summer. that's the warning from some doctors. the director of public prosecutions,

alison saunders, will stand down in october after a series of recent controversies. two men have died in a crash on the m62 near bradford, after a car was driven on the wrong side of the road. an abandoned chinese space laboratory — which has been in orbit around the earth since 2011 — has broken up on re—entry over the south pacific ocean. tiangong—1 was being used to train astronauts, but it stopped functioning in 2016, meaning technicians on the ground weren't able to manage its controlled descent to earth. lebo diseko has more. heavenly palace blasting off. china's first space station was supposed to be a launch pad for bigger and better projects. but since then the eight tonne spacecraft around the size of a school bus has stopped working and come crashing down to earth. there was much speculation over where it might fall with estimates

including south america, africa, the middle east, central asia to name just a few. in the end, the south pacific is where it came down, most of it is said to have burned up on re—entry with any debris falling into the vast waters below. all this is a far cry from the space station's glory years when two different crews of astronauts visited. china says it's dealt with the situation according to international conventions but it all seems pretty embarrassing for the country's space programme. more than 7,500 tonnes of redundant space hardware is thought to be circling the earth. a uk—led research team is putting a satellite into orbit this evening to try to track the debris and catch it, as our science correspondent, jonathan 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 tonnes 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.

as the new financial year begins this week, nine million workers will see a change in the amount they automatically pay into their workplace pension. the minimum salary contribution for those on auto—enrollment schemes will rise from 1% to 3% — but there are fears that this increase may lead to more people opting out of paying anything at all. 0ur personal finance correspondent simon gompertz has been looking into what the affects might be. like any business, these macaroon makers in birmingham have had to sign up staff likejenny to a pension. the pension recipe involves putting in a little dab of money every month, £6 in her case, for a bigger retirement income eventually. but if those contributions go up, will people likejenny opt out? at the moment it's ok, but if it increases a lot, i won't be able to do the things like travelling that i want to do. perhaps i would have the update. i wouldn't be able to afford it without getting a pay increase.

helen is a trainer here and keen on a pension, but her priority is getting on the housing ladder. i'm hoping to buy a house in the next few months. i'm happy to make the contributions now, and i do have that money, but things are about to get tighterfor me. i will have to rethink. at the moment, employees are putting in 1% of most of their pay into the pension fund by government tax break. this week that is going up by 3%. next year, by 5%. that is a lot to budget for. meanwhile, the employer is now putting in 1%. this week that goes up to 2%, and next year to 3%. so 8% in all. the question is, how many people are going to be able to afford to pay that? this is our retail store in the great western arcade... the founder of ms macaroon wants staff to carry on with a pension. otherwise they miss out on the big sweetener, the employer's contribution. but she warns the increases will have an impact on pay. it will continue to kind

of keep wages down. because we have to plan for the growth in pensions costs. the macaroon makers could be giving up a pension of around £4,700 a year if they opt out. even so, there is a clear danger that the numbers opting out, around 1 in 10 at the moment across the uk, could rise sharply. churchill called them "the few‘ — the fighter pilots who took to the skies to protect britain from the luftwaffe in the battle of britain. now the surviving airmen are being honoured in a special portrait to mark the raf‘s centenary. graham satchell has been to watch the artwork take shape. they wanted me so badly, they got me into the squadron very quickly. at his home in the cotswolds, 97—year—old tim elkington is being sketched by artist jeremy hilton. i've been asked to track down

the surviving raf pilots who flew in the battle of britain. they were the light in our darkest hour, and if it wasn't for these guys, our world today would be very different. in the summer of 1940, germany was preparing to invade britain. it needed air supremacy. the fate of the whole country lay in the hands of a couple of thousand airmen. tim elkington was just 19, a hurricane fighter pilot, confident about the battle to come. nobody ever thought about morale, i don't think. nobody ever chickened or was doubtful. and i think we were very sure of what we — we were going to defend the place. archive: as hurricanes and spitfires roar into action... on august 16, 1940, tim was on patrol over the english channel when he found himself alone. as soon as i straightened out, the fuel tank was hit and in flames.

and so i got out. tim had been shot in both legs. he was unconscious and heading for the sea. what happened next was extraordinary. a fellow pilot spotted him floating down in his parachute, flew round him, created a slipstream, and pulled tim onto the land. how he had any idea of doing this, it had never been done before, to my knowledge, has amazed me. he saved your life. he did indeed. tim spent more than a month in hospital. but, as the battle raged on overhead, he kept in close contact with his fellow pilots. during the battle, with every time you went up, being shot at by the bombers, by the escort fighters, if you weren't a nervous wreck, i don't know what you would be. more than 1,500 allied crew lost their lives

in my eyes they are heroes, and, you know, they should be celebrated and the younger generations should be made aware of what they did for us. for me, it's more the air force thing, as opposed to being a hero. i'm proud of the whole air force. you don't consider yourself a hero? no. certainly not me, god no. as the raf celebrates its 100th anniversary, there are just a handful of fighter pilots left. jeremy's picture is called the last of the few. the gratitude of every home in our islands goes out to the british airmen. never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. its bank holiday monday, so it is

pouring outside. it is rubbish, either heavy rain or heavy snow, very few people avoiding it today, but the north of scotland is ok. things slowly improving across southern parts of the uk over the next few hours, but this is what some of us have had, a covering of wet snow. let's look at the big picture. for the next couple of hours, this is the main zone of weather. brightening up south of that. north of that, mainly dry. taking a closer look at this area this afternoon, mostly rain, outbreaks of that in northern ireland. some snow in northern england, turning to rain away from the higher hills but, in scotland, with this moisture going further north, a risk of some wet snow into quite low levels, even the central

belt this afternoon and this evening, gusting easterly winds and snow drifting on the playground. if you are travelling, keep a close eye on the situation near it. notice the milderair on the situation near it. notice the milder air getting into the south, where some of us brighten up a bit. wales in south—west england, some heavy showers, and a few showers here on a mild night, but it could be fun to read. still some sleet and snow in scotland overnight. some significant accumulations in the highlands, ona significant accumulations in the highlands, on a cold night to come. the picture for tuesday, that weather system that has brought the rain, sleet and snow today, still close to scotland, so plenty of cloud here. none of the precipitation will be as heavy as some of you are seeing, but still some of you are seeing, but still some outbreaks of rain, sleet and hill snow. showers working through northern ireland, parts of england and wales, and some of those could be heavy, but not a wash—out. for a large pot of england and wales, dry,

sunny moments, and temperatures leading up to the mid—teens. an improvement in belfast. still on the chilly side in scotland. for the week ahead, wednesday still has low pressure close by, so most of us seeing rain showers but, by thursday, a chilly start, but there will be some sunshine around, and temperatures heading up nicely by the weekend quite widely across the uk. but it will not be settled, there could still be some rain at times. that's the latest forecast. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: there is a new warning from health staff that the nhs in england is likely to face a "year—round crisis", as this winter's pressures extend into the summer.