a boost to the british economy. growth accelerates to 0.5% in the first three months of this year. part of the reason, stockpiling before the original brexit deadline of march 29th. the uk economy is performing robustly, despite the evidence of slowing global growth and the continued brexit uncertainty at home, so it's good news. we'll be looking at what this means for the future of the economy with our business editor. also this lunchtime. the united states steps up its trade war with china, more than doubling tariffs on $200 billion of goods. tributes for the comedian freddie

starr after he was found dead at his home in spain. forests of artificial trees. one of the ideas being considered to try to help save the planet. it's hazard. it's chelsea in the europa league final! and chelsea join arsenal, liverpool and spurs in a full house of english clubs in the two european cup finals. in sport on bbc news: wales head coach warren gatland agrees to take charge of the british and irish lions again for their tour of south africa in two years‘ time. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. britain's economy has had a boost with growth of 0.5% in the first

three months of the year. it's partly because, with the original brexit deadline of march 29th, businesses were stockpiling goods and racing to deliver orders. manufacturers saw their fastest expansion since the 1980s, and business investment also increased. but some economists are warning the speed of growth might not last. philip hammond has given his reaction to the latest figures. well, these gdp figures this morning show again that the uk economy is performing robustly, despite the evidence of slowing global growth and the continued brexit uncertainty at home, so it's good news. chancellor philip hammond. simon jack is with me now. first of all, he says it's good news. talk us through these figures. if you consider what's going on in the world, slowing global growth, the worlds two biggest economies at each

other‘s throats in a trade war, flat—lining growth in big economies in europe like germany, like italy, you've got brexit uncertainty, given all of that, these are a pretty good set of numbers. however, as you said no introduction, the brexit uncertainty had the effect of pulling quite a lot of economic activity into the first quarter of this year. people want to have their stock rooms full, they want to finish off products, get ready in case there was some disruption and of course, as we go into the next quarter, we may see some hangover from that, but i think you can definitely a pretty good pulse underneath these if you like temporary factors. , so in some ways is ata temporary factors. , so in some ways is at a one off, this quarter?” think brexit uncertainty warms it a bit because it brings activity into the first quarter and then stocks run down in the second but what would really quicken the pulse of this economy is if businesses really began to invest and have the confidence to do that. we saw some evidence of that in the first quarter but as long as the brexit

uncertainty comes from a low base compared to last year, as long as it is out there you will find it difficult to persuade companies to invest in the machinery and the know—how for their employers to use more productive kit. simon, thank you very much indeed. simonjack, oui’ you very much indeed. simonjack, our business editor. the trade war between the united states and china has escalated. the us has more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese goods. it's raised duties from 10% to 25% on a range of products from car parts to furniture. last—minute negotiations between beijing and washington failed to produce an agreement on a way out of the dispute, although talks are expected to resume later today. in the meantimee, china says it will retaliate with what it calls "necessary countermeasures" as robin brant reports from shangai. some on both sides hoped this would be the final round of face—to—face talks, capped with a deal. there was certainly no shortage of smiles,

as they greeted each other, in washington, dc. and as he prepared to sit down, china's chief negotiator made it clear what he thought about the prospect of increased tariffs. translation: i came here with sincerity in these special circumstances to engage in rational and candid exchanges with the us side. of course, china believes raising tariffs in the current situation is not a solution to the problem. it will be harmful to china, the united states and to the whole world. instead, that's exactly what has happened. this is a trade war has escalated. $200 billion worth of trade from china to the us will now face the increased tax. i don't think anyone really wins from a trade war. i think most of us lose, because trade wars tend to have tariffs, which adds taxes to the things that we buy, as consumers. so they tend to be quite economically damaging. the tariff target list includes wi—fi routers, some furniture, and car parts.

i went to a factory in the south of china last month, where they make wi—fi routers, millions of them. the firm, tp—link, is looking to expand outside of china. that's partly to escape the new tariffs that will now make its products even more expensive in the us. new tariffs that are necessary, because china changed its mind, apparently. we were getting very close to a deal and then they started to renegotiate the deal. we can't have that. so, our country can take in $130 billion a year in tariffs, paid for mostly by china, by the way, not by us. a lot of people try and steer it in a different direction. it's really paid, ultimately, it's paid for by, largely, by china. in recent months, china has moved further to open up parts of its economy to foreign investors. it's also announced plans for better protection for intellectual property. but it's how you make sure that these changes actually happen and who is the final arbiter of that on which both sides still seem to be struggling to agree. china will now retaliate.

within minutes of the tariff hike, its ministry of commerce said it deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures. we don't know what they will be, yet. but in the past, measures to put pressure on foreign firms operating here have been used as well as the tax increase. robin brant, bbc news, shanghai. tributes have been paid to the comedian, freddie starr, who is reported to have died at the age of 76. according to reports in today's sun newspaper, the merseyside—born comic, impressionist and singer was found dead at his home on the costa del sol in spain. he made his name as a hugely popular entertainer in the 1970s and ‘80s, as keith doyle reports. known for his manic energy and edgy, outrageous stunts and close to the knuckle humour — freddie starr was a comedian, an impressionist, a singer and an actor.

born in liverpool, he was an actor, singer, comedian and an impressionist. he was discovered on opportunity knocks, the biggest tv talent show of the time, and hit the big time when he appeared on the royal variety show. ladies and gentlemen, mickjagger and the rolling stones. applause after that, his career took off. he is the king of all time. he is the king of all time. he said his horse winning the grand national in 1994 was one of his proudest moments. at the height of his fame, the comedian inspired one of the most infamous headlines in newspaper history when the sun newspaper history when the sun newspaper splashed freddie" starr ate my hamster". he denied it but it stayed with him. how would you like

that for 20 years? 20 years! doesn't it give you a headache? does it? yes. well,... i was absolutely shocked. i knew freddie very well. i was actually shocked. very sad really. a great talent. very shocked. a genius, his physical comedy. he could fall over and you thought how did he manage to do that? he was like a clown. but the charisma that man had on stage and... his private life was complicated, married four times, six children, health problems and in 2010 he had a major heart attack. soon after, his health forced him to pull out of the tv show i'm a celebrity, get me out of here. he was caught up in the police investigation into historical sexual abuse cases but was never charged. he lost a subsequent libel claim which left him with large legal

bills. depressed and isolated, he moved to spain where he spent the last few years of his life. a message on his facebook page said to be from his manager said, rip to a greatest comedian of all time. danny baker has said he wants to "formally apologise for the outrage he caused" with his tweet about the duke and duchess of sussex‘s newborn son, which featured a picture of a chimpanzee. the presenter, who was sacked by bbc radio 5 live, said it had been "one of the worst days" of his life, and that he felt panic and revulsion when he realised the baby was mixed race. a new study suggests children in england are getting shorter break times at school than they used to, with potentially serious implications for their wellbeing and development. researchers at university college london say teachers are dropping breaks as they try to pack more lessons into each day, leaving less time for children to play. the study says children are missing out on exercise, and the chance to learn

vital social skills. david lumb reports. it's the downtime in between lessons that's meant to keep youngsters fresh. but what do pupils at the herringthorpe school in rotherham think about their school breaks? break time is really special to most pupils because we can escape the stresses in the classroom and all the pressure that we have on us. i think that break time is a special time where you canjust escape the pressures of the classroom and socialise with all your very good friends. it's a time when you do not have to worry about your school work and you can just relax. it's special to me because you can just talk to your friends. but that time is being squeezed. a new study shows that school breaks are shorter now than they were 20 years ago. researchers at university college london found that infants in england had 45 minutes less break time a week than they did in 1995. they found that 82% of schools had less than 55 minutes for lunch break

and the report said only 15% of pupils had an afternoon break. if we think about current concerns, which is to do with children's mental health and well—being in the school setting, but also childhood obesity, this is the one opportunity for many children to have safe opportunities to play and socialise and it's being really quite significantly eroded. i worry when i see schools... you see children leaving their school at quarter to three and you know they have only had a half hour break for lunch. we have a school—lead system so we trust head teachers to these decisions. schools say timetables are bursting because they have a lot of learning to fit in. let's come to you, first of all, david fisher, because you are introducing shorter breaks for those kids around you and others at your school. why is that? it allows them to go into more clubs and enrichments after school. we have a number of children who walk home at the end of the school day and in the cold winter months that are dark our

enrichment numbers drop. by shortening down a friday, which the school already has, it allows them to do more enrichment during that time. the department for education says the government recognises the importance of physical activity in schools. it says pupils should be given an appropriate break and it expects school leaders to make sure that happens. david lumb, bbc news. care homes in england are to work more closely with doctors and pharmacists in a new scheme to try to reduce hospital admissions among the elderly. under the plans, gps will visit homes more regularly, allowing them to keep a closer watch on each resident's health, and ensure they have the right medication. it's hoped the plans will improve wellbeing, as well as cutting costs for the health service. rob sissons reports. it's a simple idea. it's been tested at this care home in derbyshire house, in nottinghamshire, and has reduced hospital admissions and cut the drugs bill. a gp practice buddies up with a care home, so residence' health can be

checked with a doctor more. rachel visits every two weeks. is there anything urgent that we need to deal with, initially? yeah. and what began as an experiment here in nottinghamshire is now being rolled out across england's care homes. the major benefit is that the patients here get continuity of care, which we know is a problem, across the nhs. we get to know the patients more, we get to know their families more, we can get more involved in understanding what they would want to happen, should they become acutely unwell. across england, around 400,000 people live in 17,000 care homes. on average, residents take seven medicines a day. for many, it's more than ten a day. charities have voiced concerns for years that some residents may be on too much medication, criticising an over reliance on anti—psychotic medication for dementia patients as chemical cosh. the key thing, from our perspective, is to make sure that the right drugs

are given, at the right time. that people don't have drugs, unnecessarily, because we know that that is not good for their health. well, since they have the extra support from the gp here, they say it's made a dramatic difference. improving the confidence of the staff and they're calling ambulances out less often. most of the residents here want to avoid going into hospital. so, it has helped them stay here and be able to be treated here at their home. vic, who is 92, and his friends at the home, seem to like it. it enables treatment to be given, where necessary, much more quickly. and, generally, i think it gives the patient more confidence. i don't want to be on tablets. i prefer not to have any at all. now, nhs england's long—term plan involves recruiting thousands more clinical pharmacists. the aim — for every care home to have access to one. trying to make sure that where medicines are used, they're the right medicines at the right doses, for the right people.

and we're making sure that everything's appropriate. it's all part of a shake—up in how medicines are managed. and it's hitting the right note here, an example how health and social care are working closer together. rob sissons, bbc news, nottinghamshire. the time is 13:16pm. our top story this lunchtime: the economy rebounded in the first three months of the year, as manufacturers' stockpiling ahead of brexit helped to boost growth. and still to come... we report from inside brunei on the controversial decision to impose harsh islamic punishments for offences such as adultery and sodomy. coming up on bbc news: mercedes dominance of the formula one season looks set to continue in catalunya, as valteri bottas tops the timesheets in first practice ahead of this weekend's spanish grand prix.

would it be possible to refreeze the north pole, as a way of repairing the damage done by climate change? it'sjust one idea being looked by a new research centre at cambridge university. scientists there fear that simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions won't be enough to stop irreversible damage to the environment. the project — the first of its kind — will examine new ideas, as well as those that have been dismissed in the past as too far—fetched. pallab ghosh reports. a scorched earth, where people are poorer and have less food because of severe droughts. there'll be more flooding and all the coral has gone. that's what we're headed for, unless we do more to cut emissions of carbon dioxide. scientists at cambridge university fear that reducing co2 emissions on its own won't be enough. the man who's led efforts at the heart of government to combat climate change for 20 years is helping to set up

a new research centre to develop ways of repairing the damage that's already been done. the urgency of the issue is such that we have very little time left. so we've got to pull out the stack of greenhouse gases that's already in the atmosphere and that means examining all the alternatives. we are looking for processes that are scalable, by which i mean processes that can take out billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases, each year. with trillions of tonnes of ice gone from both the earth's poles, the new centre will look at ways of refreezing them. one idea is to have boats spray sea water into the clouds above the ice, to reflect sunlight away from them. another is to develop forests of artificial trees to absorb carbon dioxide — just like real forests, only better. and some think releasing shiny discs into space might act as a planetary parasol,

reflecting sunlight and cooling the earth. in the past, these ideas have been described as too radical, too ambitious, even too risky. but now, scientists say we're running out of time and options to prevent damaging and irreversible climate change. the ipcc says that net co2 emissions will have to be zero by 2050, to avoid some of the worst scenarios. this at a time when chinese and indian industries need much more energy, as their nations grow. this is a global problem that we have to solve. we can't fail. it's our duty to future generations that we succeed in this task that has been put upon us. and that means that we need to very carefully analyse, create the evidence base, so that sensible informed decisions can be made today that will last generations into the future. the scientists here believe that the earth's climate can be

repaired, but they say new solutions need to be found and implemented within the next ten years, otherwise it may be too late. pallab ghosh, bbc news, cambridge. the united nations is examining the human rights record of the kingdom of brunei. the country has faced worldwide criticism over its sharia penal code. there was international outrage last month, when brunei said that gay sex and adultery would be punishable by stoning to death. after a boycott of businesses owned by the country's ruler, brunei backtracked and said such death sentences would not be carried out. our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head has been to brunei and sent this report. call to prayer it's wealthy, orderly and sleepy. a peaceful corner of southeast asia. brunei is also deeply religious

by custom and by order of its sultan, absolute ruler of this tiny country for more than 50 years. this is the capital during friday prayers. the sultan now wants brunei to be even more islamic. he's imposed harsh sharia punishments provoking international outrage. it's our responsibility as a muslim country, he explained recently, in a rare public statement. but he also promised not to carry out any death sentences. islam is at the core of brunei's national identity. its role in everyday life is non—negotiable, yet very few people here believe the harsh sharia laws just enacted will actually be implemented. brunei's laid back, they say, we're easy—going. we are not like muslim societies in the arab world, yet tellingly no one will speak to us

about these new laws. they've been told not to. laid back it may be, but bruneians know they have no freedom to talk openly about what the government imposes on them. we got in touch with a woman we've called sarah. too nervous even to meet us, she was willing to respond on a secure messaging app. like many gay bruneians, it's not sharia punishments she fears, but rising intolerance. if you're gay in brunei, do you feel you can be just as open about it there as if you lived in any neighbouring country? i was able to meet a gay man, dean, not his real name, outside brunei. he said he was less concerned about the sharia code. keep a low profile, he said, and you won't get into trouble. we have not been denied human rights. denied basic human rights. we have not been denied the opportunities to work, to study, to walk around in public.

unlike reports seem to say. life is as normal as normal gets. well this is the point where we cross from brunei to malaysia. it's where bruneians have to come, if they want to let their hair down and have a bit of fun. limbang, a small riverside town in malaysian borneo, does very well out of brunei. on weekend nights, it suddenly comes to life. so, you're an engineer? karaoke bars fill up with bruneians enjoying what they can't do back home. and so long as they can do this, they're not complaining too much yet about the new islamic rules.

jonathan head, bbc news, brunei. the home office has insisted a new communications system will transform the work of the emergency services, after criticism that it was running late, and going over budget. the spending watchdog, the national audit office, said the new network would cost £3 billion more than planned, and gave the taxpayer poor value for money. ramzan karmali reports. siren the government wants to modernise the communication system used by our emergency services, but not only is it likely to be delayed, it's going to cost a lot more. the current system, airwave, was meant to be replaced this year by the emergency services network. that's been delayed until 2022. but even that target date looks unlikely to be met. it's also going to cost a lot more, £3.1 billion more, which means the total cost of implementing the new system will be £9.6 billion.

the national audit office's report is highly critical of the home office. back in 2016, the home office expected to be able to deliver this programme by 2019, that's not proved possible. and it's a consequence of the home office failing to manage the risks that existed in the programme at that time. are you diabetic? according to the report, key technology is yet to be properly tested, and work hasn't even started on upgrading control rooms, or providing coverage for police helicopters and air ambulances. the report also reveals that ministers are expected to approve a decision which will mean that the new system will not be as resilient to power cuts as the existing one. but the home office is confident the new system will transform the service offered by the emergency teams that will mean faster and better treatment for victims. ramzan karmali, bbc news. the taxi hailing app uber will make its long—awaited debut on the new york stock exchange in just over an hour's time. it's being valued at $82 billion.

our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones, is here. rory, that's a lot of money given that uber has never made a profit? yes. investors a re yes. investors are being invited to make a huge bet on a company which not only hasn't made a profit but huge losses and says it may never make a profit. it's making big claims about huge markets it will end up dominating, notjust transport, but food delivery and even freight. no clear idea of how it will get there. it is pouring huge amounts of money into research into d riverless huge amounts of money into research into driverless cars, so it can possibly get rid of its most expensive element, the drivers. but no clarity on how soon that will happen. in effect, investors are being told to get into an uber car with a driver who doesn't quite know the destination, how long it will ta ke the destination, how long it will take or how much it will cost. but there is this thing called fomo. investors were looking at a world

where they were told similar things about amazon and facebook and those companies ended up making huge returns for investors and they are betting that the same just might happen with uber. thank you. for the first time in european football history, english teams have all four places in the finals of the continent's two major club competitions. liverpool are already facing spurs in the champions league final in madrid, and now it's chelsea and arsenal in the europa league final in baku, in azerbaijan. fans of all the clubs face a desperate search for tickets and expensive flights, as andy swiss reports. it was the perfect ending to english football glorious week. commentator: it's chelsea in the europa league final! it took them a penalty shoot out to get there, but as stamford bridge erupted in celebration, fair to say chelsea fans didn't mind. a suitably dramatic finale to what has

been an astonishing few days. because also through to the europa league final are arsenal. yes, it would be another all english showdown. it's the first time one country has applied all the finalists in europe's two major competitions. at the moment, it seems england's best arejust impossible to beat. the level is very high. in this moment, the premier league is the best championship in europe. perhaps in the world, i think. and the result isa the world, i think. and the result is a full house of finalists, as well as chelsea against arsenal, in the champions league, of course, it's tottenham against liverpool. for a liverpool manager has been openly opposed to brexit, this european dominance is tinged with irony. i don't think it will happen, a lot of times, to be honest. but this year, it's nice for england, obviously, at least the big clubs in

england want to stay with all they have in europe. you didn't understand that, now! because the re st of understand that, now! because the rest of the country does want that. getting a ticket, though, may be no laughing matter. at the champions league final in madrid, the stadium holds nearly 68,000, but liverpool and tottenham are not getting just a 16,000 tickets each. while for the europa league final in baku, despite a slightly bigger stadium, tottenham and arsenal are getting just 6000 each. that's on top of a 2500 mile journey, involving around ten hours of flying. the arsenal supporters trust, whose fans are facing this marathon journey to azerbaijan, had described uefa's treatment as disgraceful and some believe the location of finals needs more flexibility. i think what they should probably do is look at the logistics and see who's going to the

final and perhaps, in situations like this, maybe rearrange the game. and, so, after a week of english clu bs and, so, after a week of english clubs gloriously getting into finals, actually getting to watch those finals may be a whole new challenge. andy swiss, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. may has been a bit disappointing, so far, any signs of improvement? depends on your point of view, disappointing, it has been pretty chilly during the last few weeks. but we've also not had an awful lot of rainfall. disappointing may be for other reasons. we need the rainfall for our gardens and it's been really dry. there are signs that things are improving. in fact come into next week, it looks as if temperatures are going to be on the rise and they will be very little in the way of rainfall. let's see if these graphics are working... know it's

not... here we are. it will be improving but we