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 than initial estimates. the agency now says 700,000 potentially contaminated eggs have reached the uk.

and surgery waiting lists hit a ten—year high in england — other key targets including urgent referral for cancer care have also been missed. 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 good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the scale of slavery and human trafficking is far bigger than has previously been thought. that's the stark warning from the national crime agency, which says there are more than 300 police operations in this country currently investigating slavery and trafficking crimes. the agency says it was

shocked by its findings — and warns that previous estimates that the number of victims in the uk are between ten and 13,000 mayjust merely represent the "tip of the iceberg". earlier i spoke to our home affairs correspondent who said it was not easy for the authorities to obtain an exact estimate of the number of victims affected by human trafficking. i don't think we'll ever know for sure because by definition this is a hidden crime. in many respects this is a crime of the modern age. what this is about increasingly 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 in the uk is a growing concern, certainly among 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 into prostitution. but now they are saying there are all manner of 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. here are a few examples. areas of construction, agriculture. food processing, fishing, nail bars. that's been a big concern for some yea rs. quite simply, no one seems to have a handle on how big the problem is. for six months the nca have been intensifying their efforts. they have found that 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 up to 13,000 are woefully short of where they think the mark is. that suggests this has been around for a lot longer and that someone somewhere has been dragging their feet, perhaps. this is the criticism today about this. what we have had, new laws in place under a modern slavery bill which was passed two years ago. that bill was supposed to increase sentencing and create the anti—slavery commissioner to coordinate work.

he said last night in a newspaper interview that he had real concerns that there had been a lot of feet being dragged on this issue because he said there was intelligence on national databases about the criminal gangs and people who were victims from all sorts of nationalities which simply had not been acted upon fast enough. we know anecdotally that some police forces locally have been more focused on this than others. the nca this morning said there had been a sea change in its response in the last six months. they are doing a monthly wave of targeting, a specific sector at a time. and each of those operations is yielding further leads. we are really at the start of a very long journey in attempting to get on top of this project. north korea has called us president 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. 0ur 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. 0bviously, 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. 0ne 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. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes is on the pacific island of guam that's caught up in the middle of this. he sent us this update. this behind me here is the gates to andersen air force base here in guam. and this is a place that north korea really doesn't like because andersen is home to a fleet of bis,

those big sleek swing wing bombers. every time north korea does something that the american president doesn't like, he sends some of his bis from here to fly up to the korean peninsula and along the demilitarised zone. he's really saying to the north korean regime, "if you don't do what america wants, give up your ballistics programme "and nuclear weapons programme, then this is what you'll get. "and this is where it will come from". if north korea's aim is to scare people, well, have a look, it doesn't seem to be working. certainly people are not fleeing the beaches for the airport, and that's because most people here, both locals and tourists, think this is more of north korea's normal bluster. but the threat against guam is very specific and that has a few people worried, that maybe, just maybe, kim jong—un is planning some sort of action, to fire one or more missiles over japan in this direction. not to strike guam,

but to hit close by. and if he did do that, it's possible the mood here would change very dramatically. joining me now from washington is daryl kimball, executive director of the arms control association, an organiation who provide information and analysis of global arms control. maybe we should be speaking to the director of the rhetoric association, isn't this what we are looking at? we are seeing this from both sides, from north korea and president trump, and i would say that the level of threat making has been unprecedented in the last few days. north korea tend to threaten, but as the reporter said, the threats to guam are very specific and it looks like the north koreans are thinking about an intermediate

ballistic missile test that would land in the waters near guam, very clear reminder that the north koreans could strike back at the bomber base, the andersen air force base, so it is very important in our view and also many world leaders and some in the trump cabinet that these sides need to cool down and tension needs to be reduced, but what is missing right now, there's a lot of pressure and threats, but there is no direct diplomatic engagement between these governments. how damaging is president trump's approach? we think of his off the cuff remark and what he says on twitter, how much of that is contributing to this crisis? first of all, the north koreans are not going to be... their behaviour will not be changed by such rhetoric, they are very determined to defend

themselves against what they think isa themselves against what they think is a very real threat. these threats are not going to change north korea's behaviour, but they do raise the temperature and create the possibility of miscalculation. if the us military exercises go ahead later this month and if the north koreans fire a missile near guam, there's a risk of miscarriage and asian on one or the other. —— miscalculation on one side or the other. both sides have been talking about their interest in talks but we have not got to that point. united states successfully got the united nations council support for unprecedented sanctions against north korea last week, that was worry helpful. rex tillerson said the united states is open to talks if north korea stopped their ballistic missile tests, so when president trump threatens nuclear war essentially against north korea,

then that disrupts that strategy that united states had put in place, the trump administration needs to get its line straight if we are to see a peaceful resolution to this conflict. god forbid that there is a missile fired in the direction of guam, but there is a perception that america is so advanced in their defence, they could shoot the missile down long before it ever got there. the united states probably could intercept one ballistic missile when we know it is coming and there are ballistic missile defences in south korea mainly us, to defend us military assets in korea and it would be hard to knock down a missile coming from north korea in the direction of guam. you have to remember missile defences are not a full proof umbrella. it

ta kes are not a full proof umbrella. it takes one nuclear and ballistic missile to get through, in order to have a devastating effect. the united states military is very sophisticated but there is really no military option, pre—emptive option to knock out all the north korea's nuclear assets, especially their conventional assets. north korea has about 10,000 artillery pieces within about 10,000 artillery pieces within about 30 kilometres of the city of seoul. the city of 25 moving people, and so even without nuclear weapons they have the potential, north korea, to create devastating damage if there's a conflict and that is why avoidance of conflict in the miscalculation that could lead to it, is absolutely essential. that is the terrifying thing, that we are seriously talking about this. you are right. that is what makes this unprecedented. we are talking about a major conflict on the korean peninsula. i still think the

possibility is low and no one is planning a pre—emptive attack, but tensions are high and as we know from previous incidents in the cold war, like the cuban missile crisis, two lea d e rs war, like the cuban missile crisis, two leaders might think they have matters under control, and that they are making very chi collated steps, but then there can be the x factor, unexpected event that they did not know about that intercedes and changes the same —— very calculated steps. the cu ban changes the same —— very calculated steps. the cuban missile crisis is a great example of that and i hope we don't have anything close to that here. 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. 0ur correspondent sophie long has more on this. you will remember the

pictures of the arrest. a couple of days ago please released cctv footage of the moment a male jogger is running across putney bridge in south—west london. 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 assume 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 and 15 minutes later the malejogger went back over the bridge and she attempted to speak to him but he would not acknowledge her. they have now arrested a 41—year—old man in chelsea and he is in custody in a london police station. the headlines on bbc news: 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. 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.

and in sport. 0pen 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. it is being led in the early stages by paul casey of england, and gary woodland of the united states. 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. i will have more on those stories just after 330. 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, 0xford, 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. 0thers 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 many years in jail. 0ur correspondent dan whitworth was outside northumbria

police headquarters. two voices forming the ramifications debate, we heard there lord macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, and a man to listen to with credibility, when he speaks on issues like this. 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 that crimes like this must be identified as such and investigated as profoundly racist crimes. another point from lord macdonald, similar crimes in the past, and we are talking of towns

and cities across the uk, like rochdale and oxford, that 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 and equalities. 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 crimes are british asian men, she is calling on the government to carry out more research to find out why that is the case. 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. the scandal over the insecticide has seen millions of chicken eggs pulled from european supermarket shelves. 0ur correspondent has been following

the story. 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 so somehow this has ended up in the human supply chain. millions of eggs have been taken off the shelves in germany, for instance. the food standards agency reckoned about 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, the fsa say that is just 0.007% of eggs that we consume in the 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 isjust one ingredient, so potential harmful effects will be 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 as fipronil is banned. 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.

we will be doing a q and a with our correspondent shortly, and if you have a question send it to us on twitter. use the hashtag x. —— eggs. 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%. below the 92% target. 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 weren't in terms of the number above that. they have missed that target of 85%, as well. 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 and procedures. a man held hostage by al-qaeda for six years has been speaking in a news c0 nfe re nce six years has been speaking in a news conference for the first time. he was finally freed by his captors just under two weeks ago. he told reporters that at first he didn't believe he was being released. the drive in my card turned to me and said to me, that i was free, and i was like, all right, and then he said if you don't believe me, you can go. and i thought, maybe he's not just pulling my leg can go. and i thought, maybe he's notjust pulling my leg and joking. another car came and i drove out. i went down and hit the tar road and

when i did that, then i realised, if they try and take me back, i'm going tojump they try and take me back, i'm going to jump out. and they try and take me back, i'm going tojump out. and then i realised that i must be free now. steven mcgowan, talking in johannesburg short time ago. and now we have the weather forecast. the many people are fine day, the deluge we had in the south yesterday has also cleared. much better picture for people in the south—east. this was yesterday, you can see how much cloud bill was for east anglia and the south—east. this is today, the low pressure has drifted out into the near constant and we are in this window of fine weather —— near continent. but we have weather from the atlantic pushing our way to buy, reaching western areas, but before that, we

have a fine day, apart from remnants of yesterday just the chance of some showers in the extreme south east this afternoon. this is the damp weather and the cloud and rain moving into western areas, scales around the scottish coasts, but for most people it will be a dry night. friday is looking pretty overcast for most of the uk. and some damp weather, as well. this is bbc news, the headlines: slavery and human trafficking in the uk is "far more prevalent than previously thought, " the national crime agency says. it warns that estimates of about 10,000 victims in the uk represent just the "tip of the iceberg". north korea denounced donald trump's warnings of "fire and fury" and said the us leader was "bereft of reason". while claiming plans for a missile strike off the coast of guam

could be ready in days. the food watchdog has said about 700,000 eggs have been sent to the uk from potentially contaminated dutch farms, up from an early estimate of 21,000. time for a look at the sport. two british players have had a strong start to the us pga championship is under way at quail hollow, and one of them has a share of the lead. that is paul casey, who as you can ta ke that is paul casey, who as you can take a three under par. he is alongside gary woodland, the american. these two have shot ahead of chris wood, who started well and isa of chris wood, who started well and is a shot behind after eight. champions of the majors so far this year, sergio garcia, brooks koepka and jordan spieth all go in the same group as is traditional at the uspga. they are all under parjordan

spieth is trying to be the youngest golfer ever to win grand slam. the isaac makwala story could reach a remarkable conclusion tonight at the world athletics championships. let's go to the london stadium and join 0lly foster. we've been saying all sorts over the last 48 hours from him saying he lost everything to be finally in contesting for a medal. he says he is very angry and that will push him on in the final, the last event of the track. it is all about this norovirus outbreak, he was put into quarantine at his hotel for 48 hours which meant he missed the first round of the first round of the 200, the 400 final, the iaaf that compete with the astonishing time trial to get into the semis last night and then qualified for today's 200 metre race. he said he was never sick but public health england have in the

last hour have confirmed ten all cases of the norovirus have been found, not just in cases of the norovirus have been found, notjust in the tower hotel but ten more cases from the 13 that we re but ten more cases from the 13 that were identified. it should be a great vinyl with eyes that and van niekerk. he was lowest in qualifying so it could be makwala's race. just one of the brits that could have a big night tonight in that stadium. two more goals can be one this evening. 0ne two more goals can be one this evening. one is the 400 meters for women. doyle got through as the slowest qualifier. high hopes for mitchell blake in that 200 metre

final and eilidh doyle to see if she can get close to the podium. mohammed from america is the favourite. keep your eye out for katarina johnson—thompson in the highjump, that katarina johnson—thompson in the high jump, that let her down katarina johnson—thompson in the highjump, that let her down and the heptathlon, she's been playing catch up heptathlon, she's been playing catch up ever since she bombed out the 1.8 six. she has a pb of 1.98 which would have won 0lympic six. she has a pb of 1.98 which would have won olympic gold last year. morgan may, another british dumper. —— jumper. there is the men's final of the triplejump there is the men's final of the triple jump which we are looking forward to, no british interest but christian taylor is after a british record, jonathan edwards's world record, jonathan edwards's world record from 22 years ago could go to night. much better conditions, it is not raining. thank you. arsene wenger has admitted that uncertainty over his future last season created a "lack of clarity in the dressing room" at arsenal. wenger eventually signed

a new two—year contract extension and the campaign finished on a high with victory in the fa cup final. but they missed out on a place in the champions league for the first time in two decades. maybe my attitude had an impact on the season, because at some stage the season, because at some stage the players came to see me and said what's going on? where do you go? i created with me not deciding, that a lack of clarity in the dressing room, and there's nothing worse than that. just over 24 hours until arsenal begin the new premier league season against leicester. more from me later. surveyors say 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. hejoined merely to he joined merely to explain. the official figures won't say it's right down but the surveyors the falling prices in london. if you look at the ripple effect than what they are seeing is it spreading to they are seeing is it spreading to the south east, and to east anglia, and also to the north. that does not include the north—west diet is the rest of the north of england. that is what it spread to. there is another side to the story, but are plenty of places in the uk where prices have risen, one is northern ireland, are very sharply. scotland is up and the west midlands and the south—west of england. there are places where it is going up and there is a sort of reservation about this ripple effect not happening now, because the one thing, london has been so expensive that it is just beyond the reach of most people, a lot of surveyors will say it had become down, the other thing is if there is an effect from brexit

uncertainty, people saying it is the impact that is likely to be more significant amount of money off well. what are they suggesting will happen next? the reason people follow this questionnaire that sent 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 those areas going down, going down even more and looking ahead, over five years, the expectations of surveyors for what it's worth because it's a long way to forecast, will the increases of 2.796 to forecast, will the increases of 2.7% on average every year. they are still going up. but that is a lot less tha n still going up. but that is a lot less than they've ever thought before in their surveys. my many times —— how many times have we sat here discussing how london is different.

with the amount of foreign investment in london, is that what's really going on? is it the drying up of that that is causing the knock—on effect with the london is a very big area because you have what you call prime central london, those sort of very expensive flat on the terms of central london, ten telling of which tend to get snapped up by red agents, americans, people from the middle east, that has fallen by 20% or more. then it has held up more in the outer regions. but we're seeing the outer regions. but we're seeing the softening in the market and it's affecting the surrounding region. more than 9,000 peoplfe 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. 0ur correspondent sima kotecha has more. 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. 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 rapidly,

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. even though he didn't want to leave, he owed around £60,000 to his ex—wife. he wasn't clear 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. 0ur health correspondent, jane dreaper, reports. 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 liverfailure because of his diabetes and obesity. the doctor is under investigation by the general medical council. jane dreaper, bbc news. two women had to be rescued from the top deck of a double decker bus after it crashed into a shop on a busy london high street. the accident happened just before 7am this morning, in the south of the city close to clapham junction station. the bus driver was taken to hospital and nine others treated at the scene for minor injuries. transport for london say they are investigating. just to remind you of an upcoming queue and day with our correspondent who is looking into the issue of eggs and how safe they are following the revelation of 700,000 eggs fried dutch company at the centre of an

investigation over a fertiliser being put into some of their mixtures. yesterday, the food and safety agency said that it was 71,000 and it turns out it was many more. you can tweak your questions to ask. use the hashtag eggs. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first , the headlines on bbc news: 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. the war of words escalates — 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. the food standards agency now says 700,000 contaminated eggs may have reached the uk — dutch police investigating the scandal have made two arrests. they stressed that any risk to public health is likely. time for a business update this

hour. 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 yea r‘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. but first — the bbc‘s decision to move a large chunk its output

to manchester has had a neglible economic impact on the wider region — according to a new report. the creation of mediacityuk in salford led to over 4.5 thousand jobs between 2011 and 2016, has today said that the benefits of moving the public sectorjobs out of london should not be overestimated. the bbc has said it is "surprised" by the findings and cited other studies which highlighted positive effects of the move. joining me is paul swinney, principal economist — centre for cities. it all that this report. thanks for joining us. why would you describe the creation of 4600 jobs in manchester as having a negligible impact on the region? it's great that manchester got the jobs for them but it is small. compare that

4.5 thousand jobs to the total in greater manchester, it is no .3% of alljobs there. the message we have is moving morejobs out of london, improving economy is out of london, this is not the tool to try to do it with. but the bbc has issued a robust response saying they are surprised by the report, other independent assessment of the move has recognised the benefits of it and also saw the's mayor has said the move has been a catalyst for the area's development. what more would you say could have been done to have improved development even further?” don't think that anything more could have been done with respect to the bbc move. the main messages we should not overestimate or expect too much from the impact of these moves. the move should be seen —— could be seen as a success. the key talent is holding back growth in

some big cities further north, —— key challenge is holding it back, andi key challenge is holding it back, and i don't think this will really get those issues. we're talking skills, transport, those places without a metro mayor, covering a city with powers from london. those issues we need to tackle. if you wa nt to issues we need to tackle. if you want to see a turnaround in our cities in the north. but of cities including liverpool are bidding to be the new home of channel 4. what lessons should those cities take away from this? the key message from the salford example, another example is yes, if channel 4 worst in move to liverpool, that will be positive that the area. —— were to move to liverpool. but in terms of the private sector investment, particularly women get skills with higher qualifications

than we have got, we will continue to see liverpool struggled to attract higher skills and business investment that we crucially need to be creating tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of newjobs, not just thousands, for the hundreds of thousands of newjobs, notjust thousands, for the people that live and work there. thanks for joining us. in other business news: 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. 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 twenty—first 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. a quick look to see what the markets are up to. european shares are slipping on thursday. here in london the ftse 100 of blue chips has shed over 1.3% but this is mostly due to some big stocks like anglo american, rio tinto, lloyds and bt group fell after going ex—dividend . while drinks 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 the dollar after industrial production numbers just topped economists' forecasts. £1 currently buys you $1.26. i'll be

back later to see how the markets have close. the botswa nan athlete isaac makwala has qualified for the final of the world athletics 200m after running his heat alone, against the clock. he was unable to take part in the heats on monday night, because the athletics governing body said he had the norovirus. that is the bike that has affected dozens that is the bike that has affected d oze ns of that is the bike that has affected dozens of competitors, staff and championship. but yesterday it changed its mind and let him run a special heat on his own against the clock. 0ne arm aloft, with the crowd cheering his name. it's fair to say isaac makwala's day had gone from bad to brilliant. 12 hours of madness began with him heartbroken in his hotel room. he told me he'd lost everything after being diagnosed with norovirus that he claimed not to have and being forced to miss the 400 metre final. this was my time. this was my time for taking a gold medal here. but just hours later,

he was out of quarantine and boarding a bus to come to the stadium. athletics' governing body had agreed to allow him to race alone against the clock in a bid to make the 200 metres semifinal. as the rain poured, it was the strangest of sights, as was his celebration. commentator: i think that is a message to the iaaf to say "i'm fit and healthy". even rival wayde van niekerk was glad to have him back. but there was no time to soak up the adulation. two hours later, he was back in the semis in the usually vacant lane one. the weather was still terrible. he was the opposite. what a performance from isaac makwala! i wish to thank the iaaf for giving me another chance. and the crowd is so amazing. they gave me belief, the british crowd. i want to thank this crowd. it's so amazing.

tonight, he will face the likes of van niekerk, who onlyjust reached the final, and britain's nethaneel mitchell—blake, who also qualified as one of the fastest losers. everyone now knows his name. those 200 metres that he performed last night were just staggering, in horrendous conditions, it was cold, the rain was relentless. it was brilliant to watch. and he's one of the favourites for the 200 metres as well, so he could write history here. what began with sickness and despair could end with a world championship medal. time for a look at the weather. i'm aloft by about 20 feet. then get

on with the weather. today has been a nice day across most of the uk, we have had some sunshine and that will continue into the evening hours, lovely picture here are scattered fairweather cloud and hay bale there. this was yesterday, a very different story. we had a dell dude across the south—east, it rained and rained and rained. the skies would grey and depressing day. today was still cloudy and the remnants of bad weather, a few showers in the south—east but that's pretty much it. the rest of the uk, it is bone dry for the rest of this afternoon. this is 6pm, coming up to the rush—hour, you can see a lovely evening, if you are planning to go for a little evening stroll out there it will be dry and lovely. there is some rain on the way and the clouds are already thickening

across western parts of scotland and northern ireland, this is the next set of not quite heavy but cloudy and drizzly weather which moves up to the atlantic —— from the atlantic. we have some weather in belfast and in glasgow but england and wales, this coming night, should remain dry. friday, this is what it looks like on the weather map. we have weather funds coming off the atlantic, some low pressure there which means cloud and some rain, initially in the morning it will be across western areas. it's not very fast, sluggishly moving across the uk, other time we get to the middle of the afternoon and the late afternoon, you can see it is clouding over across the south—east but just about drive. clouding over across the south—east butjust about drive. it's looking windy in scotland. this is friday night into saturday, the weather fronts have gone through, the cloud and rain has gone through, and the weekend is looking relatively promising. saturday morning might still have leftovers of that weather

front across the uk, you can see it is across holland and denmark and norway. behind it, there will be some cloud but by the afternoon on saturday it is looking brighter, with a couple of showers here. they may linger into sunday as well. on balance, this weekend, if you've got any plans and you're hoping for bright, sunny, dry weather, you're almost certainly going to it. next week is different, the weather looks like it's going to go downhill again. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4: the national crime agency says the scale of 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". also in the next hour — the number of potentially contaminated eggs sent to britain from dutch farms is much higher than initial estimates. the food standards agency says 700,000 may have reached the uk, but stresses that any risk to public health is "very unlikely". and from despair to delight — just three days after being barred from the heats of the world athletics championship