welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: president ramaphosa of south africa leads tributes to winnie mandela, the anti—apartheid campaigner and former wife of nelson mandela, who's died aged 81. in the midst of repression, she was the voice of defiance and resistance. nerves run raw on wall street and in tokyo as beijing slaps duties on us pork, wine and fruit in response to the latest american tariffs. with at least 16 palestinians killed by israeli soldiers on friday, we hear of one family's loss in gaza. france looks likely to grind to a halt as unions strike over president macron‘s labour reforms. and, after three decades away from acting, britain's glenda jackson returns from politics to centre stage on broadway. south africa's president has led tributes

to winnie madikizela—mandela, for many years a figurehead of the anti—apartheid movement, who has died. she was 81. the former wife of nelson mandela was at the centre of the struggle against white minority rule, but she was also a controversial figure, accused of corruption and of condoning violence against opponents. andrew harding looks back at her life. into a new south africa. if he became a saintly icon, she was something more complicated. heroic but flawed, winnie, the mother of the nation. her world was transformed at age 23, when she met and 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 the racial groups in this country. in the years that followed, she and her young daughters were ruthlessly harassed by the white minority government. she said that brutality taught her to hate. in prison, perhaps her husband had it easier. as south africa's townships erupted in violence, winnie became an increasingly radical, fiery figurehead. we bring up the white men's children. we could have killed them any day we wanted to! with our necklaces, we shall liberate this country! she endorsed the vicious practice of necklaceing, putting a burning tyre around those suspected of betraying the cause, and she and her security guards were directly implicated in the abduction and murder of a 14—year—old boy. in 1990, winnie was there

with 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, mandela accused her of infidelity and asked for a divorce. we have been together since 1958, and whatever is happening, there's something that causes deep trauma. in her later years, still active in politics, she was convicted of fraud. but the sidelines were no place for such a grand figure. she bounced back, sometimes cherishing, sometimes resenting, her long marriage to nelson mandela. she claimed a prominent place at his funeral, then contested his will. but today, the extended family is united in mourning her. the family continues to appreciate

the continuous support, the support that we see here in front of us here, our home in soweto. she was a rock. she wasn't afraid for anything that is wrong to speak. she always spoke her mind. somebody who is an inspiration, who is still an inspiration even after her passing. tonight, many here in south africa, including a new president, are remembering her courage and defiance. she was courageous and, in many ways, very stubborn, stubborn on behalf of our people, because she knew that, out of her stubborn disposition, she would be able to inspire millions of south africans. winnie madikizela—mandela's life mirrored south africa's own turbulent journey, its violence and heroism. in life, she was a polarising figure.

in death, many here seem inclined to forgive and to celebrate. and andrew spoke to us from outside winnie mandela's house in soweto a little bit earlier. as you can imagine, the crowd that has gathered here all afternoon and well into the night, still singing struggle songs. they are here to celebrate a woman they see as a formidable politician in her own right, not in her former husband's shadow. it's interesting, it's not just her generation that have come to mark this moment. i have just been speaking to three young women who came in specially, they said because she was a feminist icon for them and they like her radical politics, politics which are increasingly part of the mainstream here as south africa begins to question some of the compromises and reconciliation that nelson mandela of course endorsed. the crowd here is beginning to thin out but i think in the next couple of weeks, we will see her legacy

re—examined ahead of her state funeraljust across the valley here at orlando stadium. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. final results from egypt's presidential election have, as expected, restored abdel fattah al—sisi to power with 97% of the vote. that's the same percentage he won by four years ago. but turnout was down by 6%, and 7% of ballots were spoiled. at least seven people are reported killed in india in demonstrations by tens of thousands from the dalit community. they were protesting at a ruling from the supreme court that people accused of discriminating against india's lowest caste should not face immediate arrest. the indian government has asked the court to reconsider. zimbabwe's president emmerson mnangagwa has arrived in beijing for a four—day state visit. zimbabwean state media says he expects to sign a memorandum of understanding to help his government's plans for economic revival. nerves are running raw

on wall street, as china and the us lock horns over trade. the dow dropped more than a50 points on monday in response to beijing's imposition of duties on 128 american—made products. those duties are in retaliation for the trump administration's new tariffs on chinese steel and aluminium. the white house has now accused china of, "distorting global markets." this from the bbc‘s gary o'donoghue. 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. about 26% of all us pork production is exported. and most of the growth comes from outside us borders. so any restriction on our export markets is not a good development for us pork producers. we are focused on maintaining and expanding export opportunities. so this was not good news for us. 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, of targeting different aspect of this dispute. but the broad, sweeping tariffs we have seen have not maybe achieved the goals that he 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 pose the president some serious political problems. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, at the white house. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has accused the west of resorting to, "open lies and disinformation," following the poisoning of a former russian spy in britain. tensions have been increasing in recent weeks, following the expulsion of numerous diplomats from both sides. caroline rigby has more. it is the poisoning in a mediaeval english city that has led to a modern—day geopolitical storm. as britain blames russia for the attack

ona britain blames russia for the attack on a former spy and his daughter moscow offers explanations as to why it isn't responsible. now drawing on a phrase best associated with a fictional characterjames bond. translation: experts say this may be rather advantageous for britain's special services who are known for the ability to act with a licence to kill. this could also be beneficial for the british government which has found itself in an inconvenient situation after failing to reveal its promises to voters over brexit. britain has dismissed such conspiracy theories. in solidarity with the uk, almost 30 nations have 110w with the uk, almost 30 nations have now expelled close to 150 russian officials. moscow has responded in kind. so our relations between russia and the west headed for a new low? translation: there is a lot of talk about how the situation is worse than during the old cold war

because then there were rules and an accepted behaviour was followed but 110w accepted behaviour was followed but now i think western partners, chiefly great britain and the usa, have disregarded all of that accepted behaviour and resorted to lies and disinformation. days of tit—for—tat expulsions have been met with tit—for—tat rhetoric and meanwhile the former spy and his daughter remained seriously ill in hospital. sergei skripal in critical condition, his daughter yulia skripal is now conscious and talking. in salisbury the process of decontaminating areas affected by the poisoning will begin this week. as with the police investigation, thatis as with the police investigation, that is likely to take months. and with russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov accusing the west of playing children's' gains in response to the attack it appears political and diplomatic consequences might last longer still. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: after three decades away from acting, britain's glenda jackson

returns from politics to centre stage on broadway. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worse, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs or restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. a hundred years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday

is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. the latest headlines: south africa's president has led tributes to winnie mandela, the anti—apartheid campaigner and former wife of nelson mandela, who's died aged 81. us and japanese stock markets have fallen sharply, fuelled partly by fears of an american trade war with china. the dow jones ended just under two per cent lower. it's a confrontation that's been brewing since emmanuel macron became the president of france. he has promised to change employment laws to make it easier for companies to hire and fire. trade unions are firmly opposed and have launched a series of strikes that will stretch into late spring. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. things looked fairly sedate at paris's gare du nord in the final hours before the strike

got under way. but appearances can be deceptive, passengers keen to travel while they still can. translation: i won't know paris. i have to travel up north, and i wonder whether i can come back. that's that. translation: it's annoying. at first, i really didn't dwell on it. i kept telling myself there would be alternatives, but now it's starting to get annoying. i was looking, but the trains have been cancelled. it is being called black tuesday, the beginning of months of rolling industrial action. high—speed tgv rail will only be running one in eight of its normal services, and four fifths of regional trains have been cancelled. even eurostar will be affected, only managing three quarters of its usual schedule. and this is only the beginning. look at this timetable for the next three months. every day marked in red is a strike day.

the union is planning to walk out two days out of every five until the end ofjune. they are not alone, pilots at air france also striking in a dispute over pay and they will be joined by rescue workers, students, and part of the public sector. emmanuel macron campaigned on an agenda of economic reform, shaping up economic laws in an attempt to revitalise and modernise the frenchjob market. but he is facing fierce opposition from the country's trade unions, who say the president is trying to break them. either way, it seems french commuters can expect more strikes and more upheaval in the weeks to come. this is only the beginning. several thousand palestinians are still in tented encampments along gaza's border with israel, continuing their protests over the killing of at least 16 demonstrators by israeli troops last week.

the family of one of those who died has said their son was running away when he was shot. israel says militants were trying to breach the borderfence. our middle east correspondent tom bateman reports from gaza. the days of mourning have continued in gaza, this family is remembering abdul fattah abdul nabi, the 18—year—old died on friday close to the perimeter fence. his mother says he was shot as he ran away from israeli troops. translation: they killed him. they shot him in the head. he was just trying to rescue somebody, to help somebody. he'd spent half an hour at home and then he told me i am going to the protest, like the other people. videos purporting to show the incident have been circulated widely, they appear to show him taking a tyre from another man. a shot can be heard before he falls to the ground. israel said he was active

in the military wing of hamas, the militant group which controls gaza, his family deny this, saying he was not involved in political factions. palestinians accuse israel of using indiscriminate force last friday, at one point in the afternoon, men ducked as they appear to help injured people. but israel's military said hamas planned to storm the fence and march tojerusalem, when asked about the case of abdul nabi, it was suggested he may have earlier thrown firebombs and have said hamas is known to have fabricated videos. gaza's hospitals continue treat the injured. the health ministry said on monday another palestinian died from his wounds. israel has repeatedly defended its actions of last week, saying today it behaved as any other sovereign country would have done. but that is unlikely to quell

the calls for enquiry, without more detail of accounts of exactly what happened on the border. tom bateman, bbc news, gaza. israel's prime minister has now put on hold an agreement with the united nations. thousands of african migrants currently living in israel were to be resettled abroad. benjamin netanyahu wrote on facebook that he had listened to the views of israelis, particularly residents of southern tel aviv, where thousands of africans are living. tens of thousands of american teachers walked out of the classroom and onto the streets of oklahoma and kentucky on monday, pushing for more government funding for schools. oklahoma is among the bottom three states in teachers' salaries, and until last week they hadn't seen a state raise in a decade. but protesters say this is about more than just pay. james cook reports. how are you? it is 5:00am in the morning, but teresa danks is already teaching. when you do good today, you are going to get a gold star, all right?

her student is halfway across the world, in china. she makes better money teaching him than she does in the classroom here, in the richest nation on earth. you get a star, you get a star! i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states... only the furniture in this room is provided by the state. everything else is paid for by the teacher herself. mrs danks says she is angry, disgusted and embarrassed. she has even resorted to begging for money for supplies on a street corner. our education system has failed, at least in the state of oklahoma, and it's failing in a lot of places across the united states. it is failing our children. we are begging for our voices to be heard as teachers. we are begging for change. we are begging for a pay raise. we are begging for the state of oklahoma to put education as a priority, for the future of our state and this nation. a pay raise has now been approved, but teachers walked out today

anyway, marching on the state capitol. they say the increase of about 15% is a drop in the bucket after a decade of deep and damaging tax cuts. i'll see you next week... they are feeling those cuts at crutcho elementary, which is now open just four days a week, to save money on buses, electricity and support staff. it isn't enough, though. i think our kids are missing the art class we used to have. we used to have a really good art programme, but we don't have the funding for it anymore. we used to have choir, all sorts of music. we used to have band. i would love a school nurse, i would love a full—time counsellor... modest tax rises on oil and gas production, fuel and cigarettes are now in the pipeline. but critics say it is too little, too late. oil—rich oklahoma is not the first state to implement deep tax cuts. neighbouring kansas tried it as well, and also ran into trouble. but now, even some republicans

here say it is time to admit that this experiment has failed. we travelled out into the heartland to meet one of them. garyjones is running for governor of oklahoma, the only candidate in favour of raising taxes. it seems like everything we do in oklahoma lately is a crisis. it is part of the republican creed to believe in smaller government and lower taxes, but is it your feeling that you can go too far with that? i think so, and it's got to be a balance. while we believe in smaller, more efficient, efficient also means that you deliver those core services that government is expected and required to do. some republicans here worry that president trump is repeating their mistake, with deep, national tax cuts. if so, say his critics, the us faces not optimism and renewal, but decay and despair. the acting legend and former british politician glenda jackson

has made her return to broadway. she's 81, a two—time oscar winner who abandoned acting 30 years ago to serve in parliament. tom brook caught up with her in new york. a big event on broadway — glenda jackson returning to the new york stage. they all think they can treat me like us? starring in edward albee's three tall women, rehearsing for her role as an elderly woman looking back at her life, jackson is part of an all female cast of three. the opportunity to work with two other actresses is really quite rare. i mean, women are still not regarded, in the main, by contemporary dramatists as being the driving dramatic engine. and so it's just one woman's part, and you've got it, then you don't have any other actresses to work with. so it's such a treat to have, you know, the three of us on the stage.

glenda jackson is widely regarded as one of britain's greatest actresses. she won oscars for her work in two movies, women in love, in 1971, and a touch of class, three years later. she has been working professionally onstage since 1957. do you find the process of acting is getting easier as you get older? are you kidding me? probably my easiest performance was the first one i ever gave, because i was blessed with total ignorance. every performance, now, is a life—and—death situation, and that doesn't get any easier. it's like standing on top of a very, very high diving board, and you don't know if there is any water in the pool. and you do that every night. glenda jackson abandoned acting to run for parliament in 1992, winning a labour seat. left—wing in her views, she had long been driven by a fierce animus towards margaret thatcher and her conservative policies. we were told that everything i had

been taught to regard as a vice, and i still regard them as vices, under thatcherism, was in fact a virtue. greed, selfishness, no care for the weaker. new york theatre—goers aren't that interested injackson‘s political views. theyjust want to see her on stage. they haven't been disappointed with her performance. they have been smitten. she was amazing. she really was, wasn't she? she was astonishing, just — like, the way that she... her presence, and everything, was so powerful. oh, you're hurting me! you're hurting me! will you ever retire? well, i don't know. i mean, if no—one asks me to do anything, i will be retired. i mean, one of the ironies i found, when i ceased to be an mp, one of the girls in my office said, oh, how wonderful, iwould be irresponsible, i will have no responsibility. and then of course,

the minute you stop work, you're responsible as the increases in spades, because who is going to get you out of bed if you don't. so, so much do i know. well, it's working out very well, isn't it? i've been very, very fortunate. superb, monumental, electrifying, are some of the words used by theatre critics to describe glenda jackson's performance. a return to broadway could not have gone better. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there.

well, it's certainly been a fairly unsettled easter break, and for some parts of the country, quite a wintry one too. we've still got some snow lingering, across parts of scotland in particular. here was the scene on easter monday in colchester, in essex. so cloudy conditions, we've had outbreaks of showery rain around, too. now, through the next few days, things are turning much milder across southern parts of the country. still chilly and wintry in the north, and that unsettled theme continues with sunshine and showers. but what we are seeing is this milder air, the yellow colours pushing northwards across the country. still holding onto the colder air across parts of scotland in particular. so for tuesday morning, your morning commute back to work, it will be snowing still across northern scotland, north of the central belt. towards the southern uplands, it'll be turning back to rain through the course of the morning, but that snow for northern scotland still causing a few problems. it'll ease away through the morning. further south, those showers moving in across england, wales and northern ireland, followed by more sunshine, and actually, in the sunnier spells, by the afternoon, temperatures 01:14 and 15 degrees — will feel quite pleasant in the south. much colder under the snowfall across parts of scotland. for a time that snowfall

will invigorate once again, so further heavy snow as we head through tuesday night into the early hours of wednesday. but further south it's another fairly mild night to come, with further bursts of showery rain across england, wales and northern ireland. eventually that snow across the north of scotland will ease away later on on wednesday, turning back to rain, particularly at lower levels further south. heavy rain, showers and thunderstorms rolling in across england and wales, though, although in the brightest spells we'll see temperatures up to around 13 degrees or so. it still will be colder further north. now, looking through from the midweek onwards, we're going to be seeing low pressure just starting to drift away towards the east, and a ridge of higher pressure building. so, as we look further ahead into thursday, it'll probably be the best day of the week in terms of lots of dry and bright weather, with some sunshine on offer, and a lot less cold than it has been recently. so temperatures between around about 7—9 in the north, still fairly cool here, to around 13 further south. it will feel quite nice. now, during thursday evening and overnight into friday, another area of milder air moves in, but you can also see some fairly strong winds here.

so heading on into friday, we are likely to see a little bit of rain, particularly heading in towards the west, with some brisk winds around, as well. further east across the country, though, we keep the drier and the brighter spell in the weather, too. so, with those southerly winds in the sunshine, we could well see 16 degrees or so on friday. that milder theme continues on into the weekend, so by saturday, one or two areas at about 17, possibly 18 degrees. still a few showers on the cards. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: president ramaphosa of south africa has led tributes to winnie mandela, who's died aged 81. she became an international symbol of the fight against white minority rule when her husband nelson was sentenced to life in prison. but her reputation was damaged when she endorsed the killing of alleged informers and was accused of fraud. the united states has criticised china for imposing new tariffs on 128 american—made products in retaliation for the trump administration's new duties on chinese

steel and aluminium. the dow dropped more than a50 points on monday and tokyo stocks opened sharply lower. train drivers and other workers in france have begun several months of strikes as trade unions battle president macron‘s labour reforms. it's expected to be the biggest wave of industrial unrest since mr macron was elected last may. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.