this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8 o'clock. winnie mandela — the south african anti—apartheid campaigner and former wife of nelson mandela — has died at the age of 81. her grandson says she'll be missed by all who knew her. it's a tragic loss to us all. i send condolences to everyone, to all the —— that loved and supported mama winnie mandela and the family. this has been the scene outside winnie mandela's home in soweto where crowds have been gathering. donald trump's trade war with china heats up as beijing slaps tariffs onto american pork, wine and hundreds of other products. doctors warn the nhs is facing a year round crisis — as pressures on services look set to continue. in sport, we'll have reaction as alan pardew‘s four—month tenure as west brom manager comes to an end. coming out, we have wider world,

marking 100 years of the royal air force. and where better than its wea kest force. and where better than its weakest base, raf brize norton. good evening and welcome to bbc news. we go straight to soweto in south africa after the death of winnie mandela was announced today. the president cyril ramaphosa speaking. he has been saying that she was a loss to the nation. let's just listen. she is fondly remembered as a

gallant and brave person at in the international arena also remembered by many people in the anti—apartheid movement. because she was the beacon that many people in the international world looked forward to and she was one of those who knew that apartheid would be defeated and that apartheid would be defeated and that spurred her on and on an ongoing basis, even when people would have thought that she would be weakened and would call. winnie mandela never did and her voice continued to reverberate throughout the length and breadth of the country. so this is south africa thatis country. so this is south africa that is in mourning. and the

national government, at that level we have declared that winnie mandela will have a national official funeral which will be held on the 14th of april and there will be an official memorial service on the 11th but then again there will be many other memorial functions right gci’oss many other memorial functions right across the country. nearly every province of our nation. we would like to extend our gratitude and thanks to many across the country and the world who are wishing us well, who are wishing her movement well, who are wishing her movement well, the african national congress. the movement that so loved. and as president of the anc i am saddened because i went out with her, went to

the voter registration point for her to check the voting details. and after that we went to lunch together. so my last lunch with winnie mandela was the most memorable one. and i sat next to her andi memorable one. and i sat next to her and i was overjoyed when i saw her enjoying a meal, enjoying her company. and the people around her. as well as the new restaurant where we we re as well as the new restaurant where we were eating and let me say the few businesses that we established in that street, they were established from her inspiration, she inspired a lot of business people who are now doing business in this iconic real estate location in the world. where two nobel peace prize winners have their homes. she

inspired that to be what it is today. so even the traders here will mourn her death and remember her very fondly. winnie mandela lastly leaves a huge legacy and as we say in african culture, a gigantic tree has fallen and this is the winnie mandela tree that provided shade for the people of south africa. for the people who in their struggle used to run under this tree for their refuge, for shade and for security. that is what winnie mandela provided to the millions of people in our country. we are sad that this tree has finally fallen. thank you very much. that was the south african

president cyril ramaphosa who has been visiting the family of winnie mandela through today. this is her grandson and let's just quickly listen to what he is saying. the south african community, the international community. honourable president, from the family and those here with us today we thank you for your powerful and meaningful words, your powerful and meaningful words, your sincere gesture to the late mama winnie is a hard heartfelt one and we thank you. the family continue to appreciate the continued support, the support that we see here in front of us here in soweto. the support that continues to flow from every corner of south africa

and every corner of the world. we thank you for the wii just hope and pray that during this time people continue to support the family and people continue to allow us the time to consolidate our efforts together asafamily to consolidate our efforts together as a family and the many stakeholders around here today so we can ensure our grandmother as the sendoff she deserves. we thank you is always. that was the latest official reaction from the south african president cyril ramaphosa and followed by the grandson of mama winnie. cyril ramaphosa just describing a gigantic tree that has fallen. she provided shade to many in south africa. she was a beacon, she was spurred on and refused to buckle. under the oppression of

white power. we learn something else in terms of when she will be buried, will understand some cyril ramaphosa her officialfuneral will will understand some cyril ramaphosa her official funeral will take place on the 14th of april. so that is in just under two weeks' time. an official memorial service will take place on the 11th. andrew harding 110w place on the 11th. andrew harding now tells us how winnie mandela has been remembered. he was the icon, but she was larger—than—life. heroic, flawed, defiant, winnie, the mother of the nation. her world was transformed at the age of 23 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 working harmoniously

of all of the racial groups in this country. in the lonely decades that followed, winnie and her young family were routinely harassed by the white minority government. 0n the streets of south africa, the fight against apartheid intensified and winnie became a galvanising symbol of resistance. but the brutality of the times rubbed off on her. we bring up the white man's children. 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 accused of betraying the cause. she and her security guards were directly implicated in the abduction and murder of a 14—year—old boy. in 1990 winnie was there to greet her husband as he walked to freedom and guided south africa on its miraculous path to democracy.

but the years of separation had taken a toll on their marriage and after a period apart 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. 0ur 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 our mum, winnie mandela, and the family. thank you. winnie mandela was a deeply divisive figure here, so unlike her former husband. in that sense she embodied south africa's struggle and contradictions, its greatness, and its bitterness. winnie mandela, who has

died at the age of 81. fellow anti—apartheid campaigner archbishop desmond tutu said mrs mandela had been inspirational. he said: she refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband. the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment. her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists. 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 & justice". the american civil rights activist, reverend jesse jackson, 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 peace. and the south african international football player janine van wyk tweeted: "what a powerful woman she was. may your soul rest in peace, winnie mandela, mother of the nation." with me isjohn carlin —journalist and author of the book — playing the enemy, nelson mandela and the game that made a nation. he interviewed winnie mandela shortly before nelson mandela's release from prison in 1990. thank you forjoining us. your

reaction to her death first of all. like everyone else i was surprised. unlike her ex—husband nelson mandela, we knew that his death was coming but this was out of the blue. even though she was 81. her death makes me reflect about someone i got to know quite well personally as well as writing about as a journalist. although a lot of what i wrote about her was about the dark and ugly side of winnie mandela, my prevailing sentiment now reacting to her death today is a sense ofjust what a magnificent and heroic and epic personality she was. what has brought about that reflection now? the thing about winnie mandela, she was someone, the thing about winnie mandela, she was someone, for the thing about winnie mandela, she was someone, for a the thing about winnie mandela, she was someone, for a start i think she was someone, for a start i think she was absolutely the mat should of

nelson mandela as a personality and not a political figure. nelson mandela as a personality and not a politicalfigure. in nelson mandela as a personality and not a political figure. in terms of their present she had this extraordinary charisma and tremendous sense of herself. when i think of them, i think antony and cleopatra, colossal figures, think of them, i think antony and cleopatra, colossalfigures, who absolutely bestrode the stage in south africa. there is one fascinating story that has not been told really and deserves a book or film or play or all of those. the story of nelson and winnie. a tremendously powerful up and down love story full of joy and also terrible sorrow and glass. terrible disappointment. winnie mandela really sustained nelson mandela emotionally. her image, the recognition of their love and hope of their renewed love sustained in so of their renewed love sustained in so much during his years in prison. under the tremendous disappointment

he enjoyed when he came out and he saw herfor he enjoyed when he came out and he saw her for what she had he enjoyed when he came out and he saw herfor what she had become he enjoyed when he came out and he saw her for what she had become and saw her for what she had become and saw their relationship for what it had become. i'm reluctant today of all days to dwell on that but let me just say to give you a hint, someone who knew mandela exceedingly well, someone very close who knew mandela exceedingly well, someone very close to nelson mandela told me in 1994, is said nelson has forgiven everybody but he cannot forgiven everybody but he cannot forgive her. there wasjust something, because there was such a depth of love and the enormity of disappointment in how things ended up. would it be fair to say that for any human being to have gone through what they both did and certainly what they both did and certainly what she did alone at the time of his imprisonment, to come out of that unstained is virtually impossible. and asbos would have led

to what some people see as the dark yea rs to what some people see as the dark years for her. i think of winnie mandela now and i think of this tremendous force of personality and charisma i can see her right this minute in 1989 before mandela was released, as a huge demonstration a protest, violent confrontation between black militants and security and riot police with bullets and tear gas, people screaming and shouting, panicking and running. right now i can see winnie mandela just keeping strong and calm and facing up to the white south african white police colonel and just looming over him and almost intimidating him with that force of personality. she made in black and a woman in apartheid south africa but she was the commanding figure in that environment as she so often was

in every environment where she found herself. thank you so much for your reflections. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are henry zeffman, political correspondent at the times and jessica elgot, political correspondent at the guardian. the headlines on bbc news: winnie mandela — the south african anti—apartheid campaigner and former wife of nelson mandela — has died at the age of 81. the trade war between the united states and china escalates as beijing slaps tariffs on more than a 120 american products. doctors warn the nhs in england is likely to see its "winter crisis" extend into the summer

because of continuing pressures on the system. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. we begin with the news that alan pardew has left west bromwich albion by mutual consent. it follows a run of eight successive league defeats for albion which has left them seven points adrift at the bottom of the premier league table and facing almost certain relegation. he was only in charge for four months. here's our sports reporter simon stone. it has been an awful time in charge for alan pardew, a terrible season for alan pardew, a terrible season for west brom job in with just three winning premier league games. they

helped alan pa rdew winning premier league games. they helped alan pardew would turn the season around, it is just not happened and he paid the price today. there are ten points adrift at the bottom of the table, they have six games left and no chance of saving the premier league skin. i think theyjust saving the premier league skin. i think they just cannot wait for it to end. no premier league fixtures today, but plenty in the championship, and derby county have ended their eight match winless run with a really important 1—0 victory at preston north end. preston had a chance to overtake derby with a win, and they were awarded a penalty in the first half. but alan browne struck the post. early in the second half it was former manchester united winger tom lawrence who gave derby the lead and that was enough for the win. they're now up to fifth place. elsewhere in the championship, bristol city's play off hopes were dented by a home defeat to brentford. middlesbrough got a late equaliser at burton. it was also a draw between ipswich and millwall. queens park rangers scored 4 against norwich and sunderland are 5 points from safety after defeat to sheffield wednesday.

0ne game taking place in the mum, sheffield united have just 0ne game taking place in the mum, sheffield united havejust taken 0ne game taking place in the mum, sheffield united have just taken the lead against cardiff city. super league continues with a full programme of fixtures. st helens scored within the opening ten minutes in there again following a brilliant kick from ben barba. saints pulled away again in the second gap to score a further three tries. the final score 28—6. wigan remain behind st helens with their victory of the whole kingston rovers. warrington also took a win as did catalans dragons. in beijing running 0'sullivan is bidding for a record sixth ranking event title in

the china open. he is currently on five that the campaign, victory would see him surpass the record set by mark selby and stephen hendry. he has not actually won this tournament since 2000. £225,000 is the top prize. and joining him since 2000. £225,000 is the top prize. andjoining him in since 2000. £225,000 is the top prize. and joining him in the last 64 as world number one mark selby. the defending champion has not lost in this tournament since 2014. he came back from two have nil down today and the chinese player ranked 91st in the world. he will face got donelson tomorrow. swedish golfer lindberg has won herfirst major after play—off victory against her south korean opponent. the final four holes played after darkness. this was the birdie that took it, her rival could not match it.

lindberg is ranked just 95th in the world for this victory. that required a special celebration and here it is. following her caddie into the water. but it meant she was given the trophy a few minutes later wearing her dressing gown. not sure that she cared too much about that. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. 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. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'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 0'donoghue, bbc news, the white house. here, the director of public prosecutions for england and wales — is to step down from the post later this year. alison saunders' will leave at the end of a five year contract — which has 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. 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, 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. returning to our main story today, the death of winnie mandela. 0ur correspondent milton nkosi is outside mrs mandela's home in soweto. what is going on and what are people saying? the atmosphere is quite electric. you would not know that these people are warning the death of their own political leader winnie mandela, they are singing and chanting, old anti—apartheid struggle songs. almostjust for nostalgia for the budding fag

burping tribute for her own leadership when many leaders of the movement were either in exile or not up movement were either in exile or not up in prison just like movement were either in exile or not up in prisonjust like nelson mandela for 27 years. winnie mandela was here on the streets of soweto fighting the brutality of white minority rule. so these people behind me as you can see have come in their hundreds to sing songs in celebration of her life. they're paying tribute to winnie mandela because she was notjust famous or respected for being married to does mandela, she was famous, well respected, because she was an anti—apartheid activist in her own right. 0ne anti—apartheid activist in her own right. one of the very few black women, social workers, to be recognised in the 1960s back ben purely because of the yearning desire to help those who were downtrodden at always been there

either through her social work politics. the president cyril ramaphosa has just been speaking and saying that she will be honoured with an official state funeral and that the funeral will be at the stadium not far from here that the funeral will be at the stadium not farfrom here on that the funeral will be at the stadium not far from here on the 14th of april. a memorial service will be held on the 11th. so we're back here, wheeze to cover the anti—apartheid struggle tear, to hear from the people themselves paying tribute to their own leader when he mandela. looking behind you, there appears to bea looking behind you, there appears to be a lot of young south africans there, they are the born free generation. are they aware of her contribution to their freedom today? 0h, contribution to their freedom today? oh, yes, indeed. these young people love to winnie