wife of nelson mandela — has died at the age of 81. a controversialfigure — she was implicated in kidnapping, murder and fraud but made several successful political comebacks. we'll be accessing her legacy and impact on south africa. also on the programme: donald trump's trade war with china heats up as beijing slaps tariffs onto american pork, wine and hundreds of other products. a warning from doctors that the nhs winter crisis in england will become all year round — unless there's urgent extra funding. and amid preparations for the commonwealth games, syringes are discovered in the athletes‘ village. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

winnie mandela — for many years a figurehead of the anti—apartheid movement in south africa — has died at the age of 81 after a long illness. the wife of nelson mandela, she's been hailed as an icon of the struggle against white minority rule. but she was also a controversial figure — linked to "necklacing" — the practice of burning alive suspected traitors. and she was also convicted of involvement in the kidnapping of a teenager. he was the icon, but she was larger—than—life. heroic, flawed, defiant, winnie mandela, the mother of the nation. her what was transformed at the age of 33 when she met and soon married nelson mandela. he was a lawyer, already

active in the underground struggle against racial apartheid, and soon to be sentenced to life imprisonment. my husband has been fighting for the liberation of the african people. for the harmonious working of all of the racial groups in the country. in the decades that followed, winnie mandela and heydon family were harassed by the government. the fight against apartheid intensified and winnie mandela became a galvanising symbol of resistance. but the brutality of the times dropped off on her. we bring up the white man's children. we could have killed them any day we wa nted we could have killed them any day we wanted to. with our necklaces we shall liberate this country. she endorsed necklacing, putting a

burning tyre around those who were against the cause. she was involved in the induction and murder of a 14—year—old boy, apparently. she accompanied her husband as he walked to freedom and followed him on south africa's walk towards freedom. but his time in prison has put a strain on their marriage and after a while the couple divorced. in her later yea rs the couple divorced. in her later years she would be convicted of fraud but still bounce back prominent within the governing anc, hailed as a champion of the poor. our grandmother played an important role for the people in this room and for the global society. it's a tragic loss to us all. so i send condolences to everyone. to all that loved and supported winnie mandela in the family. thank you. winnie mandela was a deeply divisive figure

here, so unlike herformer husband. in that sense she embodied south africa's struggle and contradictions, its greatness, and its bitterness. winnie mandela — who's has died at the age of 81. andrew is in johannesburg for us now. andrew — she was a hugely controversial figure — what's been the reaction there to news of her death? an enormous outpouring of emotion and affection. the controversy being pushed aside here. this was a woman who lived this extraordinary roller—coaster life. yes, there were mistakes, and serious ones, but tonight people focused on her life in the 70s and 80s when nelson mandela was invisible, in prison. here was this woman living the experience of ordinary black south africans. experience in the violence, the humiliation of townships, and not giving in. that defines, that strength is what people are remembering and

celebrating here tonight. —— that defiance. thank you very much. the trade war between the united states and china has escalated. the chinese have imposed a raft of tariffs of up to 25 per cent on more than a 120 products — including american pork, wine and fruit. the measures come into force today — and they're a direct response to president trump's tariffs on chinese steel and aluminium. our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue reports. at the white house today the trumps were entertaining children in the annual easter egg roll. but all the jollity couldn't mask the fact that on trade, the president's hard line means the chickens are coming home to roost. china's retaliation was never in doubt — but on what, and how much, was the question. now we know $3 billion of us goods will face extra import duties of up to 25%, covering 128 separate items. one of the sectors that will be hardest hit by the new duties will be american pig farmers. they export more than $1 billion worth of pork to china. us pork is the most competitive pork

sector in the world. when we can compete on a level playing field, we win. i think that's good for the us, it's good forfarmers. and it's good for our economy. the us wine industry is also facing big new barriers to trade with china, an area where america saw a 10% growth last year under donald trump. he is right in certain areas targeting different aspect of this dispute. but the broad, sweeping tariffs we have seen have not may be achieved the goals we might want to see in the long run. doing something about the substantial trade deficit with china was a key part of donald trump's election success. but it comes with risks, both economic and political. these are just the opening skirmishes in what threatens to become a full—blown trade war. the us is already planning restrictions on a further $60 billion worth of chinese imports and china in return could hit those midwest farming states hard.

in a congressional election year, that could cause the president some serious political problems. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, the white house. here, the director of public prosecutions for england and wales — is to step down from the post. alison saunders' five years in charge have been marked by a series of controversies: they include the recent collapse of a number of high profile rape cases — where prosecutors failed to disclose evidence to the defence. but she's defended her record saying criticism is an ‘insult‘ to her six thousand staff. —— to her 6,000 staff. 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. 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 the number of patients using a&e, waiting times and hospital admissions will all reach alarming numbers this summer. the government says it will increase nhs funding 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, 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. billion into nhs england last year, to be followed by another £10 billion in the budget from 2020. but the bma's concerned 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. with all the sport — here's james pearce at the bbc sport centre. good evening. the commonwealth games begin on wednesday on the gold coast in australia. body has been an

investigation into the discovery syringes at the athletes village. there may be two days to go, but already at the athletes village the games has had its first scandal, after syringes were found here by a cleaner. it is not known yet what they contained. but it has threatened to take the shine off this city's moment in the sun. the gold coast wants the games to sell the allure of its endless sand and surf. more than £1 billion has been spent to do that. but 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 on the coast. so we've taken an existing australian football stadium, with 25,000 seats, horseshoe, filled in that end. got 40,000. that's all we need. they are used to big budget productions here. the pirates of the caribbean and thor were both filmed on the gold coast.

boxing and table tennis in the southern heranphetee first regional city to host the commonwealth games, so hopefully the world will see what a great place it is and that we do a good job. the image the gold coast wants the world to see in these games is a sun—kissed, laid—back sort of city, ripe for investment. but underpinning all of this is a massive security operation. for the biggest event on australian soil in a decade. the 1.5 million spectators are all going to be under surveillance of the cctv system that uses facial recognition technology, looking out for anyone known to be on the terror watch list. most here are keen to keep their focus on the sport. for decathlete john lane, it will be a home games. he represented england,

but grew up on the gold coast. and sees it as a natural host city. they love their sport, the whole lifestyle is different. you get 70, 80—year—old grandmothers and grandads running down the beach every morning. where else can you do that? the nation is hoping it can find some new heroes. was bromwich albion have parted company with manager alan pardew who was appointed just over four months ago. west brom are seven points adrift at the bottom of the table. england cricketers will need to take all ten new zealand wickets on the final day in christchurch if the are to win the first overseas test since 0ctober to win the first overseas test since october 20 to win the first overseas test since 0ctober2016. australia are 42

without last. watching england has not been a couple experience so here finally a chance to brookline, to loosen the seat belt. after all the captain in the cockpit, england were $0011 captain in the cockpit, england were soon cruising, no turbulence. joe root and his co—pilot both passed 50, celebrated with restraint. u nfortu nately 50, celebrated with restraint. unfortunately both men left runs out there. three minutesjoe root finished a winter of 500 gentry romps with no sentries were but the glowing peter dwindling time and that there was freedom to take the risk. and stokes made only 12. 0thers made better use of their license. jonny bairstow pushed on with the tail and by the time he was outcome england were 381 runs ahead. far enough outcome england were 381 runs ahead. farenough in outcome england were 381 runs ahead. far enough in front for the captain to call them in. now new zealand. england needed ten wickets, they had

four sessions to take them. the batsmen needed to hang on. a flash and flicker of a chance. then assayed to dartmouth. the umpire decided that the light had gone. new zealand snuck indoors. england have a day to get them out before the sun finally set on this tour. and that is all the sports news for now. the purpose to visit ireland later this year. he was last there in 1979 and he's likely to find a very different country, as our religion editor martin bashir reports from dublin. phoenix park, dublin, in 1979 the top of the largest gathering of irish people in history. one and a quarter million attended pope john paul's mass. young people of ireland, i love you. among the soloists, 22—year—old michael mclaughlin. at the time, 87% of irish catholics went to mass.

but following an avalanche of clerical sex abuse scandals, attendance is now at a0%. and michael mclaughlin has abandoned the faith. these were people who were in positions of incredible trust. and they betrayed that trust. not only the acts that were perpetrated on children, but there was the widespread covering up by the hierarchy in the church as well. the horrors endured in the magdalene laundries compounded the church's recent shame. catholic—run workhouses incarcerated 10,000 so—called "fallen women" who were forced to atone for their pregnancies by working in punitive conditions without pay. samantha long's birth mother lived at this laundry from her second birthday until she died aged 51. the visit this time would be a great

opportunity for the pope to try to atone for some of the sins that were committed against children and men and women in this country. when pope francis arrives here in august he will find a church whose size, power and moral authority is diminishing. a0 years ago, divorce, contraception and abortion, were against the law. soon, all three could be legal. costumed campaigners urge citizens to vote in a referendum on ireland's constitutional ban on abortion, the eighth amendment. it will take place next month, before the pope arrives. but this won't be his first visit to ireland. as father bergoglio, his name is shown in the records at the seminary where he stayed in 1980. i think it's great that he's coming in one way and there will be a lot of people who will be very uplifted by him coming here. but i also have some worries about it because the catholic church

now in ireland is in a difficult place, you could say. almost a0 years after that first papal visit, the second is likely to be a more sober affair. martin bashir, bbc news, dublin. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel, i'm back with the late news at ten — now on bbc1 its time for the news where you are. goodbye. this is bbc news — i'm simon mccoy. more on our top story tonight — the news that winnie mandela, the former wife of nelson mandela, has died. she was 81. she played a significant role in the anti—apartheid movement in south africa during the years when her husband was in prison, but was often at the centre of controversy. she trained as a social worker and met her future husband in the 1950s.

they were married for a total of 38 years, although for almost three decades of that time they were separated due to mr mandela's imprisonment. they separated two years after his release, and divorced in 1996. she kept his surname and maintained ties with him. a spokesman for her family said she died "after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year". earlier the politicaljournalist verashni pillay spoke to me about the controversies winnie mandela had faced in her career. inside south africa there was a time when she was unpopular in certain sishs because of controversies that surrounded her, especially towards the latter part of nelson mandela's imprisonment. even outside south africa she was considered controversial, but inside as well. recently there has been a huge swell of support, particularly among younger people. yes, it is perhaps

the great contradiction of her life, she was concerned about the allegations around her affair and the newspapers told about her young lover and details of money that was allegedly misspent. after that she fell out of favour and she was fired from a department by her own ex—husband for taking an unauthorised trip. but in recent yea rs, unauthorised trip. but in recent years, perhaps winnie mandela's anger and sense of rage at the state of south africa has found resonance with the younger generation and held herup asa with the younger generation and held her up as a symbol and particularly a breakaway party from the anc led by the former youth leader have almost cottoned on to her as their own leader. she appeared in their events and spoke out in their favour, despite being an anc member and she has come to symbolise a

voice of young south africans. mother of the nation to some, but also mother of the children she brought up in difficult circumstances? absolutely. a lot of young people, certainly the ones i speak to their revere her, because they point to the facts of her life. i don't think we can imagine what it must be like to spend 18 months in solitary confinement. and that is quite apart from the house arrest, the harassment and you know having to bring up two young children on her own. so i think there is a lot of renewed sympathy and honouring of her. but there is still the fact of the many controversies around her, much came around during the truth and reconciliation commission, like the acts of her body guards, the so—called soccer club and their

alleged murder of stompie seipei, a young activist. fellow anti—apartheid campaigner archbishop desmond tutu led the tributes, describing mrs mandela as "a defining symbol" of the fight against white minority rule. he said: twitter has been flooded with tributes for winnie mandela. arts and culture minister of south africa, nathi mthethwa, tweeted saying: "we're devastated to learn the news of the passing of the mother of our nation, one of the great architects of our liberation struggle. in our darkest hour she illuminated the torch of hope through her tireless commitment to freedom and justice." the american civil rights activist revjesse jackson senior paid tribute, saying: "in the darkest hours of the struggle to free south africa, with nelson mandela in prison, the face of hope and courage was winnie mandela. may she forever rest in power." and

the south african international football playerjanine van wyk tweeted: "what a powerful woman she was. may your soul rest in peace, winnie mandela, mother of the nation." mrs mandela's priest, bishop gary rivers of the methodist church of southern africa, said he had been praying with her and her family earlier today. i spent some time with her this morning, around midday and with some of the family, spent some time in prayer. with mamma winnie and after that when we received a phone call saying she had passed on. we consider it a gift to have mamma winnie as part of our community. she spent good friday at our traditional service in soweto, as many of you, mamma winnie remained in soweto, even as we speak was worshipping

there and on easter sunday spent the morning at a church in soweto, celebrating easter sunday. the church of southern africa extends its deepest condolences to the family. to all who know her, both her in south africa, in africa and across the world. an icon, a giant is laid to rest. we thank god for her life. let's go live to soweto and outside the home of winnie mandela. a large crowd gathered there. as the country comes to terms with the news that the mother of the nation, winnie mandela, has died at the age of 81. the south african president, cyril ramaphosa, paid tribute to her, said she was a voice of defines against white minority rule. she was a voice in the face of

exploitation and a champion of justice and equality. he said she was an abiding symbol of our people to be free. let's get reaction now from the labour peer lord hain, the former cabinet minister and anti—apartheid activist whose family fled apartheid south africa because of their support for nelson mandela. she was a controversial figure, but she was important to nelson mandela ina way she was important to nelson mandela in a way many still don't realise. she was very important. she married him 20 years his younger, bore him two children, which she had to bring up two children, which she had to bring up without him, because he was on robben island. she remained defiant, despite intimidation, oppression from the apartheid police force. she

was banished to a remote area of the 0range free state, hundreds of miles from her home in soweto. and she was subject there to incredible intimidation, she was beaten. she was imprisoned. 0n intimidation, she was beaten. she was imprisoned. on one occasion when she was subject to a banning order that prevented her meeting more than one other person at a time, relatives came to see her unexpectedlied y and she was arrested for mixing with more than one person. the police tried to silence her and oppress her and close her down. but she never stood. she never accepted that. she showed incredible courage and bravery in standing by nelson mandela and became ina standing by nelson mandela and became in a way his spokesman, his spokesperson outside robben island,

but in later years sadly that changed entirely, sorry, that changed entirely, sorry, that changed and she engaged in various rogue activities which i think need to be understood in terms of whole picture. i want to talk about the most iconic image — of nelson mandela coming out of the prison holding hands with winnie mandela. if she had not for years been pushing her cause, that picture would never have meant what it did, would never have meant what it did, would it? i'm not sure that picture would it? i'm not sure that picture would have happened at all in quite that way if it happened. because she kept the flame of freedom burning brightly outside prison. remember, the apartheid authorities sent him to prison, never expecting him ever to prison, never expecting him ever to walk to freedom, let alone become president of his own country, which had banned him from voting, let

alone becoming elected as its head of state. she was the visible symbol of state. she was the visible symbol of nelson mandela on... at large in real life. and yes, that image that i will always remember in february 1990 when she walked hand in hand with nelson mandela as he talk that walk to freedom and began a process that saw a transition from the horror and evil of apartheid, the worst racist system the world has seen, then or since, to a nonracial rainbow democracy, she was his partner, the mother of his children, his steadfast ally. also in some ways his tutor in prison. she kept him up to date to the extent she could given the fact they made her visits to robben island from her

home 800 miles away, made them as difficult and restrictive as possible did the authorities. she kept him up—to—date. when the student uprising happened in soweto, the black township outside south africa, where she lived and still did