this is bbc news. the headlines: north korea accuses donald trump of being bereft of reason after his "fire and fury" nuclear threat. the regime says only absolute force can work on the us president — and threatens to fire four rockets towards the american territory of guam. northumbria police defend paying a convicted child rapist for information that led to the conviction of 18 people in a sex abuse ring. waiting lists hit a ten—year high in england — other key targets including urgent referral for cancer care have also been missed. also in the next hour — a stark warning on modern slavery and human trafficking. the national crime agency says the scale of the problem in the uk is far more prevalent than previously thought. it says every large town and city in the uk is now home to victims. police investigating an assault after a jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an oncoming bus in putney have arrested a 41—year—old man on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

and from despair to delight — just two days after being barred from the heats of the world athletics championship 200 metres, isaac makwala gets a chance to run for gold in tonight's final. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. north korea has called donald trump bereft of reason, saying only absolute force can work on him as it gave more details about its threat to an american military base in the western pacific. the regime — which is reported to have developed the ability to attach nuclear warheads to its missiles — says it's considering firing four rockets

towards the american territory of guam. president trump says north korea's threats will be met with fire and fury. south korea has appealed for calm. our correspondent yogita limaye reports. one more fierce message on north korea's state tv. this time, its details of how it plans to attack guam. this us island in the pacific ocean is in pyongyang's crosshairs. north korea says it plans to fire four missiles in the waters around it. it's home to tens of thousands of people. obviously for me, because i'm a father, it's really concerning. i wish it didn't have to come to that. i'm pretty confident that the us will protect us. but in the war of words with north korea, america's president is not backing down either. he boasted of his country's nuclear arsenal, matching the aggression that over the years, people have come to expect from pyongyang. what's different this time is that we're hearing very similar rhetoric from the us president, so that's certainly ratcheted up

tension and perhaps gives pyongyang a bit morejustification to keep building their nuclear programme. so it will actually feed their anti—american propaganda. but while donald trump's remarks might be provocative, there are hopes that others in his government could help tone down the message coming from america. it's a very difficult situation. i would say this, that his secretary of defense and national security adviser are universally respected. there are some cool hands around him during this crisis and i hope he listens to them. one country that's hoping to defuse this crisis soon is south korea. it's seen this kind of situation many times before, and while it's working closely with the us to ramp up its defence programme, it also wants a diplomatic solution. its national security council held a meeting to discuss the issue, and it said it was keeping a channel for dialogue with north korea open.

but the mood on the streets of pyongyang was not conciliatory. on wednesday, a mass of people marched in support of the leadership. no evidence here to suggest that things are going to cool down. yogita limaye, bbc news, seoul. we're going to johannesburg, we're going tojohannesburg, steven mcgowan has walked into a news conference, he was kidnapped from a hotel in timbuktu along with two others and held hostage by al-qaeda for several years. he is on the right. he still has severe headaches but he has decided to come and speak to you and i'm not sure how long he will be able to go on, but we will ta ke will be able to go on, but we will take it a step at a time. his family will speak to you one—on—one after the news conference if you want. stephen will answer a few questions.

please bear with him. i want to introduce a very important person first of all, without whom this would not have been possible, the man on the left, mohammed, a person of mali origin in south africa. he agreed to take on the case in 2015. i was looking for a person of mali origin who knows the tribes and was prepared to go into the region and meet the people who can lead to the captors and within two hours he walked into our office. he has been to mali nine times and at some point his wife was ill and his children wail but he stayed there nevertheless. he has not taken any money and has not asked for compensation and whose only desire was to help get stephen out. he has been committed. he has been the

silent person, the real reason why stephen is here. his aim was to find the captors and the negotiators and the captors and the negotiators and the people we can talk to because in the people we can talk to because in the first four years no one found the first four years no one found the captors, but within six weeks of his presence inside mali the captors made contact with him and this is how the story began. we went in afterjune issue how the story began. we went in after june issue when how the story began. we went in afterjune issue when we handed it over to the government, because the la st over to the government, because the last phase could not be done by us. the captors told the negotiator that in this process you need the government of south africa and the government of south africa and the government of south africa and the government of mali because there had to be an agreement with them. that a military escort might need to go out and that you might need a helicopter and that you might need a helicopter and a private plane and passports

for stephen, these things cannot be done by you, they said. the last process is with us and then, it may or may not work but that is what we have to do. when we finished our la st have to do. when we finished our last conversation the emphasised that we wanted stephen released on compassionate grounds, is mother had passed away and he was alone. the swedish hostage was released, stephen was alone. we pressurised to releasing unconditionally and the elders within al-qaeda agreed to release him, but the young ones rejected that and said that is not within our system. what happened in the own, i don't know, but you are welcome to ask any questions —— what happened in the end. you can ask questions to stephen now. we will ta ke questions to stephen now. we will take a few at a time. save the company you're from and your name

and if stephen can answer he will answer, if not, he will say no. please understand and don't press him. he still hasn't absorbed everything and he has only been home week. it is time for him to adjust and time for him to adjust what is going on in south africa and in the world. he has had very little time to find out what is going on in his surroundings. it will be a long process. the press conference should have been held later but i understand the interest globally and internationally. give him a chance with questions, don't ask too many. i'm sure they will overlap. welcome back. can you give us your

indication of your last couple of weeks full —— weeks, and when did you find out you were going to be released. my fellow prisoner, he left the place where we were staying the day before the beginning of ramadan. a car took him away, we did not get to say goodbye, and i did not get to say goodbye, and i did not find out he had left our particular place until that evening. we had finished fasting for the day and then one of them said to me, he's gone. i was like, oh, right. one month later on the 21st ofjuly, a car came

one month later on the 21st ofjuly, a carcame in, one month later on the 21st ofjuly, a car came in, and i thought this was usual business, but then they called me over and said, you may not know, but your fellow prisoner has been released and he has gone back to sweden. and hopefully you will be going home soon. i have heard this story many times over in the five yea rs story many times over in the five years and eight months. i was, ok, this sounds positive. i said, what chance, he said, maybe 60%, but i have heard this story before, don't worry, i'm going back to my heart, this is not important. then they said, you're with us in the car. this is a big thing. —— you're going. they said, take what's important and what you don't want to leave behind. they said you may not be going home, we are going to try, but things might go wrong. we got in

the car, a lot of driving and car changes, and this was for two days, and then in another place from —— farfrom and then in another place from —— far from where and then in another place from —— farfrom where i and then in another place from —— far from where i was. breakfast, lunch, supper, everything was normal, but then some cars came past. i did not know who was in them apart from maybe the number one in oui’ apart from maybe the number one in our camp, apart from maybe the number one in ourcamp, and then apart from maybe the number one in our camp, and then we drove up with one of these cars, one of them came behind and we went behind. we had some aeroplanes, surveillance, we tried to hide a bit. and then the driving my car turned to me and said, you are free, you can go —— driver. he said, if you don't believe me, you can walk, you can go. and then i thought, maybe he's

not pulling my leg. another car came around andi not pulling my leg. another car came around and i went into it and we drove out. we hit the tirade and then we crossed the bridge and i realised if they try to take me back, i'm going tojump out of the carand run —— back, i'm going tojump out of the car and run —— we hit the tar road. and it was. studio: all smiles for stephen mcgowan who escaped after six years in captivity, held by al-qaeda after they kidnapped him from a hotel in timbuktu along with two others. giving his first news conference, but two years before his release his mother died, so he has plenty to deal with. maybe one of the reasons why his news conference has taken a few days to take place, but as you can see, a happy stephen mcgowan facing the press in johannesburg. the former director

of public prosecutions, lord macdonald, has said that the grooming of vulnerable white girls by south asian gangs needs to be recognised as "a profoundly racist crime". yesterday, 18 people, mainly of pakistani or bangladeshi origin, were convicted of abusing girls in newcastle. the force involved in the case, northumbria police, has been defending its decision to pay a convicted paedophile £10,000 for information during the course of that investigation. our home affairs correspondent nick beake reports. the raids across newcastle smashed a grooming gang that was drugging and abusing young girls, one just 1a years old. the victims were mostly white, the attackers mainly british men from pakistani, indian and bangladeshi heritage. it's a story we've heard time and again, oxford, rochdale, cardiff, to name a few. today, one former leading prosecutor condemned what he said had been

a reluctance to investigate asian gangs who target vulnerable white girls, and that a big change was needed. i think some recognition that this is a problem in all communities and across communities, and recognising it for what it is, not pretending it's something else, recognising it for what it is, which is profoundly racist crime. it's thought more than 1,400 children in rotherham were groomed and abused by networks of predominantly asian men. the town's mp says a fear within the public sector of being branded racist has allowed this to happen. sadly, i think there is political correctness going on. people historically have been more concerned about not being seen to be racist than they have been concerned about protecting children. that has to change right now. in the light of these latest newcastle cases, there are now calls for an inquiry into why groups of men are carrying out this abuse.

some warn against stigmatising whole asian communities. others insist that the problem needs to be tackled head—on. amongst these criminals, there is a mindset that white girls are worthless, that white girls can be used and abused and discarded, unlike their own daughters and sisters. and i think that's a form of racism. we in the british pakistani community have to confront that. police forces say they have learned from their own failures in tackling grooming gangs, but the northumbria force has been criticised for paying a child rapist for information to help secure these latest convictions. yes, you might have got that evidence through other means, but it could have taken a whole lot longer and that in itself would have exposed vulnerable women and girls to an unacceptable level of risk. personally, that doesn't sit comfortably with me morally either. controversy over the race of sexual abuse gangs has delayed justice for some victims.

but these offenders in newcastle, at least, are now facing our correspondent dan whitworth is outside northumbria police headquarters. those sentences under way but the ramifications continue of this case. very much. sorry, we had a communication problem and we lost vision. explain what the ramifications are. of course. very serious issue, and two voices forming the ramifications debate, we heard there lord macdonald, the former director of public is, and a man to listen to with credibility, when he speaks on issues like this will stop he held the post for five yea rs. will stop he held the post for five years. a couple of quotes from him,

he's describing crimes like this being carried out by mainly british asian men and back crimes like this must be identified as such and investigated as profoundly racist crimes —— that crimes like this. another point from lord macdonald, similar crimes another point from lord macdonald, similarcrimes in another point from lord macdonald, similar crimes in the past, and we are talking across towns and cities across the uk, like rochdale and oxford, that's the crimes in the past might not have been investigated as thoroughly as they should have been. lord macdonald has also been backed up by sarah champion, she is the labour mp from rotherham and also the shadow minister for women rotherham and also the shadow ministerfor women and rotherham and also the shadow minister for women and equality is. she made this point this morning. she made this point this morning. she said there's a need to acknowledge that the vast majority of these perpetrators of these type of these perpetrators of these type of crimes british asian men, she is

calling on the government to carry out more research to find out why thatis out more research to find out why that is the case. thanks forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news: the tension between the us and north korea escalates — now pyongyang claims that a plan to fire four missiles near the us territory of guam will be ready in a matter of days. after 18 people are convicted of abusing girls in newcastle — the former director of public prosecutions says the crime should be treated as "profoundly racist". nhs waiting lists have hit a ten—year high in england — other key targets including urgent referral for cancer care have also been missed. and in the sport. open championjustin spieth pars the first hole of his attempt to become the youngest winner of a golfing grand slam. he's under way at the us pga at quail hollow. botswana is to celebrate isaac makwala day after the athlete who was banned...

then reprieved... to take his place in the 200 metres final at the world athletics champoinships. also in london tonight katarina johnson thompson will attempt to qualify for the high jump final. she'll have to improve on her efforts in the heptathlon competition though to make it through. the national crime agency says modern slavery and human trafficking are "far more prevalent than previously thought". it said that more than 300 police operations were currently targeting the criminals involved. the nca said previous estimates there were 10,000—13,000 victims in the uk were the "tip of the iceberg". i'm joined now by our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani. how big a problem could this be? pretty big, but we won't ever know fish or because by definition this isa fish or because by definition this is a hidden crime. —— we won't ever know for sure. what this is about is organised crime, gangs, operating across international boundaries to

maximise their profits by shipping people around and treating them like commodities. what appears to have been happening across the uk is a growing concern, amongst authorities, that this is a problem which was soaking up more and more of the attention of organised crime, turning their attention from drugs into shipping people around, first of all prostitution, but now they are all areas of the economy where you will find people who are in some form of servitude, controlled labour, working against their will, barely being paid, if at all. areas of construction, food processing, fishing, male bars. —— nail bars. no one seems to have a handle on how problem —— big the problem is. they have found out this is a problem in every large town and city in the uk. it can't quantify the numbers but

they say the previous estimates of 13,000 are woefully short of where they think the market is. that suggests this has been around for a lot longer and that someone somewhere has been dragging their feet, bats. this is the criticism about this, and what we have heard, new laws in place under a modern slavery bill which was passed two yea rs slavery bill which was passed two years ago. that bill was supposed to increase sentencing and create the anti—slavery commissioner to coordinate work and last night he said ina coordinate work and last night he said in a newspaper interview that he had real concerns that there had been a lot of feet being dragged on this issue because there was intelligence on national data bases about the criminal gangs and people who were victims from all sorts of nationalities which had not been acted upon fast enough or stop we know anecdotally that some police forces locally have been more focused on base than others. —— on this foot of the mca said there had

been a sea change in its response in the last six months, they are doing a wave of targeting, a specific sector at a time, and each of those operations is yielding further leads. we are at the start of a very long journey in attempting to get on top of this project. thanks for joining us. the number of people waiting for routine surgery in england injune was the highest since december 2007. nhs england said 3.83 million patients were on lists for operations. the highest total since december 2007. other key targets were also missed — including urgent referrals for cancer care. our health editor hugh pym explained the figures. the nhs is doing more than it was, but that waiting list has been climbing and it was 3.83 million

patients waiting for routine surgery and operations in the month ofjune. nhs england says it could be even 4 million because not all hospitals reported theirfigures. what about the key target of waiting 18 weeks and no more for a routine operation? injune the percentage who were seen within 18 weeks was 90.3%. for cancer treatment, another very important target for the nhs, 80.5% of people were waiting after an urgent referral to be seen within 62 days. that's the target there. obviously a lot more were not in terms of the number above that. they have missed the target of 85%. can you put that into context in terms of the background of these figures? it demonstrates the pressures on the nhs. key targets have been missed all year, and targets

missed in a&e as well. it shows the stresses and strains on the nhs, dealing with more patients every year. resources and finances in england not keeping up with the patient demand growth. many would say more money is needed, others say the nhs needs to be more efficient. but certainly patients are having to wait longer for these important treatments. dutch investigators have arrested two suspects in connection with a probe into the discovery of fipronil insecticide in european eggs. it comes as the food standards agency says around 700,000 eggs from dutch farms have been

distributed to britain. that's much higher than the 21,000 first estimated. our business correspondent, emma simpson, is with us in the studio. this is a fast moving story, they have been talking about fipronil which is banned for used for treating animals which are destined for human consumption, and somehow this has ended up in the human supply chain, and millions of eggs have been taken off the shelves in germany, for instance. the food standards agency reckoned 21,000 eggs had been distributed here in the uk and a short time ago they said that actually it is 700,000, so that sounds a pretty large number. but we eat a lot of eggs, that is just o.oo7% but we eat a lot of eggs, that is just 0.007% of eggs that we consume and uk every year, and these aren't eggs that go into the boxes that we buy from the supermarkets, these eggs have gone into processed foods. such a common ingredient, so especially sandwiches and chilled

foods like egg salads, where it is just one breeding, so potential harmful effects will be died aged —— where it is just one harmful effects will be died aged —— where it isjust one ingredient harmful effects will be died aged —— where it is just one ingredient so potential conflicts will be died —— diluted. so don't panic? that is right, they have said it is unlikely to affect human health, but they have said they have acted with urgency to protect consumers, but the chances are we have already eaten these eggs, but there are some products which are still within the expiry date and they are in the process of getting these supermarkets to withdraw these products. a bit of a scramble... 0h! thanks forjoining us. police hunting a jogger who knocked

a woman into the path of a bus on putney bridge, in south london, have arrested a 41—year—old man on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. you will rammy singh be pictures of the arrest, couple of days ago please released cctv footage of the moment a malejogger please released cctv footage of the moment a male jogger is please released cctv footage of the moment a malejogger is running across putney bridge in south—west london —— you will remember the pictures. for some reason he pushes a woman off the pavement into the road. the footage shows her falling backwards and a bus is coming in the other direction. this happened at 740 in the morning, it was a busy time, and the bus was coming in the other direction and you can see the driver responding very quickly, swerving and avoiding her. the police have said that people on the bus got off and tended to the woman and she had only minor injuries, and after that they released cctv footage and appeal to the public for information. they said they received

a very good response to that appeal and we have learned they have now made an arrest, a 41—year—old man in the chelsea area of london this morning. we know he is now in custody in a police station in south west london where we think he's been questioned and the police are still appealing for any further information that anyone might have regarding this incident. they said after the incident happened the woman was back on her feet 15 minutes later, the malejogger went back over the bridge and she attempted to speak to him but he would not acknowledge. they have now arrested a 41—year—old man in chelsea and he is in custody in a police station. thanks forjoining us. and now we have the weather forecast. it isa it is a lot better across the south

east today compared with yesterday. yesterday was a terrible day, but it has improved. the most of us, sunshine on offer, a nice day across large parts of the country, and this was yesterday. this was the awful weather we had in the south—east. this is today, so it hasn't com pletely this is today, so it hasn't completely clear, there are still some showers lurking in kent and the far south—east of london but broadly speaking it is a fine day across the uk. there is rain and cloud to the north west, another weather front approaching from a different direction and that will reach western scotland and northern ireland but not until later on tonight. it is a fine day for almost everyone, and then tonight my rain marches into belfast and glasgow but england and wales will be dry this coming night. friday, most of the uk will be quite cloudy, some spots of rain, but if you live in east anglia and the south east, tomorrow should

bea and the south east, tomorrow should be a fine day. hello, this is bbc news. north korea says its plan to fire four missiles near the us territory of guam will soon be ready, as a war of words with washington intensifies. it denounced donald trump's warnings of "fire and fury" and said the us leader was "bereft of reason". northumbria police has defended paying a child rapist 10,000 pounds to infiltrate a sex grooming gang. 18 people were convicted but critics say it could have put victims at greater risk. figures from nhs england show the number of people waiting for routine surgery in england is at its highest level for a decade. the rise is partly because of growing demand and the nhs performing more procedures. police investigating an assault after a jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an oncoming bus in putney have arrested 41—year—old man on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. the arrest was made

following a "good response" from a public appeal to catch the suspect. total a look at this board. —— time for a look at the sport. the us pga championship is under way at quail hollow. the first round of the year's last major tournament has begun on the rain—softened, par—71 course under cloudy skies. this is the state of play at the moment. two british players currently leading the field. russell knox had a very good start and chris wood also want to land is just a hole—macro behind. and hideki matsuyama riding high, the japanese player. if we take you all the way

down to the third page, you'll notice jordan spieth is down to the third page, you'll noticejordan spieth is underway. as tradition dictates, the winners of the three majors so all go together in the round at the pga championship. he is attempting to be the youngest player ever to win a golf grand slam. some are up and running, others up to go, rory mcilroy has a shot at history — he could become only the third player to win five majors before turning 30, joining nicklaus and tiger woods. mcilroy has enjoyed some good form recently and is a seven to one favourite ahead of open champion jordan spieth. my history on this golf course, a couple of wins, been in the play—off, a few top tens. couple of wins, been in the play-off, a few top tens. so yeah, it's a little bit of both but i'm definitely, my form is better going into this event than the open,

coming off the back of a couple of top fives. things are a bit different than they were a couple of weeks ago. the botswanan sports minister has confirmed that the government will pay isaac makwala the entirety of the money he would have received had he run in the men's 400 metre final and won gold. in addition to that, if he wins the 200 metres that he'll contest after the reprieve that allowed him to qualify via a time trial, botswana has announced there'll be a public holiday in honour — named isaac makwala day. the sprinter lines up in the final tonight... great britain team captain eilidh doyle goes having qualified. she hopes to deliver the team's second medal of the championship so far. katarina johnson—thompson is backing the highjump katarina johnson—thompson is backing the high jump qualification. katarina johnson—thompson is backing the highjump qualification. she will have to improve in the heptathlon to make it through but after finishing just that in the main former olympic champion denise

lewis says she has to shake off her disappointment. we will see a different katarina johnson—thompson. she will have got rid of her negative back baggage. this is a hard combination she has put on herself but she wants to give ita go, put on herself but she wants to give it a go, and with morgan lake in the competition as well, they are coming through the ranks together and they have to give it their all. liverpool have rejected a bid of 90 million pounds from barcelona for philippe coutinho. liverpool have reiterated that coutinho — who joined them from inter milan for eight point five million pounds in 2013 — is not for sale. barcelona want coutinho to replace neymar, who moved to paris saint germain for a world record fee. the english football association say they're planning to enter a british women's team for the tokyo olympics in 2020. even if the other home nations don't support the idea. that's why there wasn't a team at rio last summer. but the fa chief executive

says talks about the games in three years' time have gone well. we have worked really hard with the other home nations to get them behind the idea that a british team would be good for football, both behind the idea that a british team would be good forfootball, both in england but also in scotland, wales and northern ireland. they will not stand in the way, they will not actively supported either but they will not stand in the way. on that basis, we will make an application to the olympic authorities for us to coordinate a british team and we feel confident that, once the details sorted out, we will have a british team competing for medals in tokyo 2020. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. falls in house prices in london are beginning to spread across the country, with the south east of england, east anglia and parts of the north now affected. our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz, is here. what exactly are they saying? in the

past they have called it a rebel effect, it moves up or down in london, and it would then be replaced elsewhere. —— ripple effect. the historic figures won't tell you that london is writes down but the surveyors are saying what it's like at the moment, they see the ripple effect, it is spreading to the south east and to east anglia and also to the north. that doesn't include the north—west, it is the rest of the north of england. there is another side to this story, plenty of places in the uk where prices are rising, one is northern ireland, are very sharply, scotland, west midlands and the south west are also up. there is a reservation about this ripple effect not happening or happening now in stock for one thing, london has been so

expensive that it is beyond the reach of most people, surveyors said it had to come down. if there is an effect from brexit uncertainty, people are saying the impact is likely to be more significant in london than elsewhere. what are they suggesting will happen? the reason people follow this questionnaire sent out every month to surveyors across the uk, is that they have a track record of showing us what is happening now and happening in the future. they are quite good at that. they are saying this standstill overall in the market across the uk is likely to continue with areas going down even more. looking ahead, over five years, the expectations of surveyors for what it is worth, its a long way to forecast, that we will seek increases of 2.7% on average every year. that is still going up. but it is less than they've ever thought before in their survey. how

many times have we sat here discussing how london is different? with the amount of foreign money invested in london property, is that what is really going on, the drying up what is really going on, the drying upa bat what is really going on, the drying up a bat that is causing this knock—on effect? up a bat that is causing this knock-on effect? london is a very big area. you have prime central london, those very expensive flats on the thames of london that tend to be taken by rich, asians, americans, people from the middle east, that market has plummeted. prices are down 20% or more. then outer reaches of london has held up more. it is difficult to read but we are seeing a softening of the london market with his affecting the surrounding region. thank you. a man who used a "quick sale" firm to sell his home claims he received less than half of what the property was actually sold for. quick—sale companies offer to buy your house quickly, usually paying below market value.

but philip edwards says that when he sold his three bedroom house in haarden in flintshire, he received just £68,000 from the £165,000 sale. he's one of four alleged victims of what's believed to be a house sale scheme based in the midlands — and police are investigating, as geraint thomas reports. it's advertised as an easy, fast and hassle—free way to sell your property, but some claim that using a quick home sale company has ruined their lives. how or why should they be able to get away with it? it's just not right. phillip edwards sold his house through an organisation called speedy property, after seeing a notice in the newspaper. it had belonged to his late parents and was the family home overfour decades. mr edwards expected to receive around £100,000 for the sale even though he didn't want to leave, he owed around £60,000 to his ex—wife. he did not know how much he would get for the sale.

mr edwards expected to receive around £100,000 for the sale of his property, once payments had been deducted, but once the sale was complete he received just over £4000, while two named companies received £51,000 and £45,000 each. mortified, really. it's as if everything that my parents worked for, and what i've worked for, you know, and at the end of the day there's nothing. it appears to be a large scale operation and west midlands police have confirmed that they are investigating a number of complaints. two of my three clients are suffering from cancer. they've lost their life savings in these transactions. nigel cole is pursuing negligence claims against one of the solicitor firms which handled the sales on behalf of the victims. he says they're all elderly, vulnerable, or in ill health. all of them say exactly the same thing to me. they don't know the name of these companies these large amounts were paid to. it's only when they received the balance of the proceeds of sale that they realised that they are missing in one case £99,000,

another case, £96,000, and i think in one case, £121,000. whilst there are genuine companies which offer quick home sale deals, the warning is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. take a bit more time to read through all the paperwork, find out exactly what you're getting, get some expert advice if you can. go and see a solicitor you trust, not a solicitor that they recommend to you, because if there's a scam they may well be in on it as well. hey, come here. mr edwards is now hoping that the police and civil investigation will see justice done, but some of the other clients of the firm may never be found. there are estimates up to four people a month were attracted by the company's advertising and promises over a four year period, and reports that speedy property were active as recently as june this year. so the number of people affected may be much higher. a widow has spoken of her "shock and horror" after a private gp

who treated her late husband admitted failings in the case. dr peter wheeler, who was princess diana's doctor, has acknowledged he failed to properly monitor his patient by not arranging the recommended blood tests. our health correspondent, jane dreaper, has the details. a mother and son seeking answers. stefanos vavalidis died from liver failure after spending the last eight months of his life in hospital. his widow is suing the private gp who was the family's trusted doctor over the prescribing of a drug mr vavalidis took for a skin condition for over a decade. it was an insidious build—up of health problems, as a result of the drip drip drip of each one of these prescriptions over this very long period. it's heartbreaking enough to lose your partner of 45 years, but the complete shock and horror when we found out that it had

been totally avoidable. that last period of his life was horrifying, so we'd like to prevent it from happening to other people. dr peter wheeler continues to practise at this private surgery, which was declared safe when inspectors visited four years ago, but he's since admitted in legal papers for this case that there were no systems at the time for flagging up the need for regular blood tests in cases like this, and that he failed to properly monitor mr vavalidis and that had he done so, his patient could have lived up to two years longer. the lawyer working on the family's legal claim says it's one of the worst cases he's known. private health care does have certain advantages over the nhs. it's more convenient, generally, and it's more comfortable, but it certainly isn't better care. dr wheeler states in legal papers that mr vavalidis would still have

died from liver failure because of his diabetes and obesity. died from liverfailure because of his diabetes and obesity. the doctor is under investigation by the general medical council. jane dreaper, bbc news. just to let you know that the story about the 700,000 eggs sent to the uk gota about the 700,000 eggs sent to the uk got a lot of you quite concerned. if you want to put a question to our correspondent, he will be in the studio to answer them. tweet to @bbcsimonmccoy and i will put your questions to him on bbc news. more than 9,000 people currently sleep on the streets — and the number of people sleeping rough across england, scotland and wales could jump by three—quarters in the next decade. that's the warning from the homeless charity crisis. our correspondent sima kotecha reports. not having a place to call home — a reality for thousands, a problem expected to get a lot worse.

meet alan, a former courier, now homeless. that's why people drink a lot and are on drugs. i don't blame them, because they can't live. they've got nowhere to live. it's a disgrace. it's not difficult to find people like this here in leicester city centre, who tell us they have no choice but to sleep on the streets. this man says he's been homeless for more than ten weeks and believes that the main driver for homelessness is drugs and mental health problems. according to today's report, almost 160,000 households were experiencing the worst form of homelessness in 2016. that's almost 250,000 people. that number includes more than 9000 people sleeping on the streets. it's estimated that number will increase by 76%, to 16,000, in the next decade, if there are no policy changes. the report includes more than 68,000 households who are staying with others on a short—term basis — so—called sofa surfing.

charities are calling for urgent action. we know that if we stopped the welfare changes, the welfare cuts, that are going through the system at the moment, if we stopped them now, that projected figure of growing homelessness would be reduced by up to 7%. if we substantially increased the number of new houses we could decrease that figure by 9%. ministers say they are investing more than £500 million into solving the problem, and that building more affordable housing is a priority. today's report is largely based on estimates. there are questions around how the figures were calculated, but few are disputing that homelessness is a real issue which does need resolving. sima kotecha, bbc news, leicester. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first,

the headlines on bbc news. north korea says a plan that could see it fire four missiles near the us territory of guam will be ready in a matter of days. after 18 people are convicted of abusing girls in newcastle — the former director of public prosecutions says the crime should be treated as "profoundly racist". nhs waiting lists have hit a ten —year high in england — other key targets including urgent referral for cancer care have also been missed. in the business news... industrial output unexpectedly picked up injune but falling car production and a slide in construction looks set to affect coming months. the figures show the economy saw sluggish growth in the first half of the year as consumers contended with rising inflation after last year's brexit vote. profits are up at tui as the travel company announced its third quarter results. the tour operator said sales rose by 12.6% in the third quarter

to £4.3 billion while profits rose by 37.7% to £200 million. the co—operative bank has posted a £135 million loss in it's first earnings report since it was rescued after plans to sell it collapsed. but the bank said it lost about 25,000 current accounts during the first half of the year amid the uncertainty over its future. with the rise in online—streaming, cable tv networks are fighting to stay in the game. netherlands—based altice is a cable and telecoms group which has been growing by buying up its competitors. now altice is eyeing the second—largest us cable company charter communications — with a bid that could be as much as $185 billion. samira hussainjoins me from new york. put this into context for us, this

isa put this into context for us, this is a big deal isn't it? it is a big deal but not very surprising when you consider both charter and altice. charter operates in 41 states, and has a huge footprint here in the us. it seems like it is ripe for the picking. we have seen other people putting in bids for charter including softbank, the horizon as well. it's not surprising that altice is going forward charter. they have now established a presence in the us to try and garner a biggerfootprint in presence in the us to try and garner a bigger footprint in the presence in the us to try and garner a biggerfootprint in the united states by purchasing companies here. does this mean that the more established telecom companies are coming under pressure now? there are certainly a lot of pressure with just how many companies are getting into the streaming business. the other day, disney announced it will

pull its programming from net flicks and will establish its own streaming service. just today, facebook announced that it is piloting a programme allowing people to stream programming on facebook. everyone is trying to get into the streaming game, as a demonstration there was a lot of pressure on regular cable companies to both innovate to stay in the game. it is such a crowded space. good to catch up, similar on the floor of the new york stock exchange. a few other business stories from today. toymaker lego has replaced its 61—year—old chief executive, bali padda, afterjust eight months in thejob, saying he was never expected to remain in the post long—term because of his age. the danish compa ny‘s new chief executive will be 51—year—old niels christiansen. as samira was just saying, facebook has announced plans

for a new tv service, putting it head to head with services like youtube and netflix. users will soon see a new watch tab that will offer a range of shows, some of which have been funded by the social network. it will also allow users to see recommended shows based on what their friends are watching. the owner of fox news and 21st century fox movie studio looks to have benefited from a trump bump. fox said revenues were up 1.5% to $6.8 billion in the fourth quarter after ratings at its cable tv business improved and drew in more advertisers. european shares are slipping on thursday. here in london the ftse 100 of blue chips has dropped 0,8% as some big stocks like anglo american, rio tinto, lloyds and bt group fell after going ex—dividend. bt group is currently the biggest

fall. better news for the bottler coca cola hbcjumped 8.6% after a first—half update making it the ftse‘s top riser. meanwhile, the pound has touched a three—week low against a recovering dollar after industrial production numbers just topped economists' forecasts. the pound currently buys you $1.30. school children in some of the most deprived parts of wales are getting free school meals these summer holidays, paid for by the welsh government. £500,00 pounds has been allocated which still means only a small number of schools are covered. a report earlier this year said that up to three million children across the uk risked going hungry in the holidays.catrin nye has been meeting children in cardiff.. can you tell me what your favourite foods are? i love chicken nuggets with beans! chicken nuggets with beans?

yeah. school holidays equals hungry kids. what did you have for lunch yesterday? bolognese. and how many bowls did you have? three. three bowls?! this is millbank primary in cardiff. it's one of 39 schools in the most deprived parts of wales providing breakfast, lunch and activities in the school holidays. it's funded by the welsh government's education department, a budget controlled in cardiff rather than westminster. do you guys have to go to school all year round ? are you not fed up? no. you don't mind coming in the summer? no. my mum think it's good because she works, has a full—time job and normally i sit home with my nan but because i'm in here it makes a big difference. if the parents don't have enough money they can put us into school

and then we get to have food. i think every parent that brings a child in here is grateful for it. lots of different reasons: childcare, food, entertainment. at this time so many people are struggling, like me. i'm not working at the moment. having to make sure your kids get fed, notjust feeding them with anything but giving them the right food. they're interacting with other children, playing, having a nice meal... it's not a full school day. they don't look at it as they're in school, they look at it as fun. you guys have eaten more of your vegetables than me. i'll be in trouble! a report by a cross party group of mps warned that three million children across the uk risk going hungry in school holidays. a third of the children who go to this school have free school meals but you don't need to be eligible to get the free food in the holidays.

if you think that it's been decided that children need free school meals because of the amount of income the family has got, its not surprising during the long summer holidays, when suddenly those things are not there, families are struggling. this is still only in a tiny proportion of the schools in wales and at the moment the education departments in england and scotland are not allocating specific funding to lunch clubs. charities and local authorities are able to set them up but there are calls for more central government money. time for a look at the weather... no point the weather was not a pretty picture

yesterday across the southeast: my goodness, what a day it was. awful rain. today, fine weather around, got a lovely picture here from leicestershire, just a few scattered clouds. this is what the picture was yesterday, look at that. this south east shrouded in thick cloud, raining all day long, it rained and rained and rained. itjust wouldn't stop, it was a dreadful day. today, the clouds of almost drained away, not completely, still some showers. but the vast majority of uk is enjoying a fine day. yesterday it wasn't so bad in the south east but for many of us, fine weather. for most of us today, sunny spells around 17—20d, with a chance of a couple of showers in the south—east, starting to cloud over later today in northern ireland and western scotland, because we have weather closing in off the atlantic. there will be rain and winds reaching

northern ireland but not until midnight. you can see that rain coming in. ahead of that, towards the south and east and night, it will be a dry night, so from newcastle, birmingham, down to plymouth and everywhere east of that, certainly it will be a clear night. tomorrow, a different story, this is the weather we would have had today, taking its fine with the south. it's starting to much income there won't be desperately heavy rain like yesterday in the south, but there will be an area of cloud with some rain and not a pleasant picture at all. gale force winds in western scotland. but it stays just about dry across east anglia and the south—east. then on friday night into saturday, those weather front pushed through, and it looks as though the weather should be fine most of the weekend. a little bit of small print there are, first thing on saturday morning for some of us, it may be cloudy, it may even be a

bit grizzly in places in the morning, then in the afternoon the for break—up and it will look fine. temperatures below par for this year, we wanted to be around 20 or above. sunday is similar, a couple of showers here and there, 16 in glasgow, 21 in london. overall, the weekend is looking fine. next week, downhill. this is bbc news. the headlines: the national crime agency says the scale of modern slavery in the uk is far bigger than previously thought — with victims in every large town and city in the country. north korea accuses donald trump of being bereft of reason after his "fire and fury" nuclear threat. the regime says only force can work on the us president — and threatens to fire four rockets towards the american territory of guam. after 18 people are convicted of abusing girls in newcastle — the former director of public prosecutions says

the crime should be treated as "profoundly racist". police investigating an assault after a jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an oncoming bus in putney have arrested a 41—year—old man. also in the next hour — the number of potentially contaminated eggs sent to britain from dutch farms is much higher