this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00pm: slavery, trafficking and sexual exploitation can be found in every major city across the uk and the scale of the crime is much higher than previously thought. president trump sends another warning to north korea as he spells out the consequences to pyongyang of any plans to attack. nhs waiting lists for routine surgery hit a ten—year high in england. other key targets including urgent referral for cancer care have also been missed. national crime agency says modern

slavery and people trafficking in the uk is a far larger problem than previously thought. it is victims are likely to be found anywhere from the high street to a farm. there are likely to be tens of thousands of people affected. more than 300 police operations are currently targeting the criminals involved and in the months of may and june, 111 arrests were made across the uk. jeremy cooke has been given exclusive access to teams working to combat modern slavery.

i should warn you his report contains flashing images. 0n the move in bradford. sounds like they need our help. martin is an investigator with the charity hope forjustice, a team dedicated to fighting modern slavery. today, it's urgent work. it looks like they've been exploited for a period of time. within minutes he's on location. you're looking at the first moments of freedom for a polish couple desperate enough and brave enough to run from those who trafficked and exploited them. tonight we report on how modern slavery destroys lives. those dedicated to stopping the traffickers know the road to recovery can be long and painful. some of the individuals have been through horrific experiences. they are beaten on a daily basis. they're living in horrendous conditions and all this is to keep them in line so that they don't even think about escaping. the police and hope forjustice investigators find trafficking and slavery across the country, from building sites to brothels,

to the local car wash. what's happened to you is not ok and it's actually a crime. an ancient crime, in britain, in 2017. filthy living conditions, long hours, slave wages. lives controlled in every aspect. do you see victims? i do, yeah, just purely from what's happening to them. they're getting limited finances, they're controlled by the boss. their living accommodation is controlled by the boss and the boss has taken their id and passport documents, so they have no means of leaving even if they wanted to. some victims are constantly on the move, used as objects for backbreaking work, controlled by fear. this man is being supported by the palm cove charity after suffering four months of hard labour, for £140. it's just horrible, i tell you, it's just horrible. even now ijust feel like my heart starts beating a little bit. you were frightened, weren't you?

yeah and it's just... i cannot describe these feelings. but you weren't locked in. you could have opened the door and walked out. yeah, yes. why didn't you? i don't know, i don't know, i was scared, scared. what was going to happen if he comes after me? so they've got the pin code and the card. back in bradford our polish couple are finally into safety, just beginning to find the confidence to tell the team of a life of exploitation. of his long hours on the building sites, of her endless shifts. and then the phone goes. it's the traffickers, tracking them down. where are you now? we moved out. you moved out? yes. why? you know exactly why. i'm not going to work for free. when we're going to see each other, we're going to have a talk. so we won't see each other. we won't see each other?

no. i'm giving you my word of honour that we will see each other and when we see each other we're going to talk. the team here have heard enough. it's time to move. we've heard them making indirect threats to them over the phone. let's get them out of bradford. what we're doing today is recovering human beings. and for those who can't run, the best hope is rescue. there will be a knock on the door. we are there to rescue these people. simultaneous raids on two backstreet brothels. the modern slavery unit, acting on intelligence that young, eastern european women are being exploited as prostitutes. the priority is to get to the women, to reassure them. we can help safeguard you and see if there's anything else we can do. and then they're led away to a place of safety, perhaps to the beginning of something better than this. this is people's lives

that it's affecting, so it's essential that we get it right in how we investigate and how we identify. we have seen an increase in these offences. we're not afraid to tackle it and go and take it on. i'm arresting you now on suspicion of modern slavery... taking it on means that as well as rescues there are arrests. so a successful operation, arrests have been made and victims are being recovered. but in many ways all of this isjust the beginning. the women from the brothel have now arrived at a safe location, specialists from the palm cove charity piecing together their stories. and how did you travel here? they can choose to enter the national referral mechanism, which offers safe housing and support. but it only lasts 45 days and there are warnings that victims emerge still vulnerable, at risk of re—trafficking. if we are not breaking that cycle then all that work goes to waste, so it's really crucial to concentrate on the long—term

sustainable support for victims and survivors of human trafficking and modern—day slavery. it's that vicious cycle which can be so damaging. in a secret location we meet a young woman who's escaped a life of prostitution several times — only to be re—trafficked. do you feel safe here? yeah. the life now, this time it's much better. the charity which runs this place knows the danger and unlike the official programme it offers refuge for as long as it's needed. this house is very nice for me. finally the support she needs — counselling, a vital part of recovery. the way she's been treated is like she's not a human. physically being used and physically assaulted, sexually abused, being used like she's a piece of meat — and repeatedly, you know, day in, day out, multiple times throughout the day. when you think about those people

who did that to you and may be doing that to other people today, what do you think of them? i think we cannot call them people. we cannot call them people. it's the police. do you speak any english? all of the painstaking police work is about bringing traffickers to justice... any particular reason why you have their passports? and victims to freedom. the prime minister calls it the greatest human rights issue of our time. modern slavery, a widespread crime, behind closed doors, across the united kingdom. jeremy cooke, bbc news. president trump has again ramped up his warnings to north korea — saying his threat to unleash "fire and fury" if pyongyang threatened the us may not have been tough enough. he said north korea should "very very nervous" if it made plans to attack the us or any of its allies.

his latest warning came after north korea said it was working on plans to fire four missiles overjapan which would land off the coast of the american territory of guam. nick bryant reports. it's from his golf club in newjersey during his working vacation that donald trump is managing this stand—off. and this afternoon he was back in his trademark suit and tie, and using his trademark tough talk, his response to the latest threats from pyongyang. i will tell you this, if north korea does anything in terms of even thinking about attack, of anybody that we love or we represent or our allies or us, they can be very, very nervous. i'll tell you why. and they should be very nervous, because things will happen to them like they never thought possible. earlier this week he warned north korea of fire and fury, raising the chilling spectre of nuclear confrontation. his only regret?

maybe that fiery rhetoric wasn't incendiary enough. the people that were questioning that statement, was it too tough, maybe it wasn't tough enough. they've been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years, and it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries, so if anything, maybe that statement wasn't tough enough. earlier, on news bulletins in north korea, the customary martial music and also an unusually specific military threat. translation: the hwasong 12 rocket will be launched by the north korean people's army and will cross japan and fly 3356 kilometres for 1065 seconds, before hitting the waters 30 to a0 kilometres away from guam. this is the hwasong 12 missile on parade in pyongyang in spring. kim jong—un can back his fiery words with weaponry. today, on the tropical island of guam, it wasn't so much a case

of fire and fury, as wet and wild. the news crews converging there producing what looked like tourist advertisements, people heading to the beach rather than fleeing. locals not particularly concerned at the threat that north korea missiles might soon come raining in. we're used to the whole ebb and flow of hearing that we're going to be bombed and then it not happening, and hearing about it again, so it's not anything that's new to us. it never follows through, so i wasn't really concerned. i think it's probably like a distraction maybe, maybe a political kind of move on the us and korea, so just to get attention, maybe. guam is in the firing line because it is american territory that is home to two big us military bases. an attack here would be an attack on america. the number of people waiting for routine surgery, in england injune was at its highest for nearly ten years. nhs england has admitted that more

than four million people were on lists for operations. other key targets missed include urgent referrals for cancer care, as our health editor hugh pym reports. he's had his operation but he had to wait a long time for it. andy waited more than a0 weeks before going into surgery on his foot to relieve serious arthritis. the nhs target is 18 weeks. during that long delay, everyday life became increasingly difficult. i couldn't walk great distances, and it was quite painful afterwards. taking an awful lot of painkillers to sort of try and keep the pain down. and although i do it work and sit at a desk all day, i was finding the middle of the afternoon i had to stop, lie down, and put my feet up just because it was too painful to sit any longer.

the total waiting list for routine surgery in england fell back a decade ago after government investment. but in recent years, it's crept back up again, and injune, it's estimated to have gone above four million. most worrying of all perhaps is that this is the sign of a trend that is going in the wrong direction. progressively we are seeing more and more people on the waiting list. and with continuing austerity there is no end to it, potentially. yes, near the jc, they say! labour leaderjeremy corbyn, campaigning at a hospital today, said the nhs could not go on like this and had to be properly funded. the party also said cancer patients were being let down, with sharp increases in waiting times for treatment. but nhs england argue that more operations are carried out every year. a spokesperson said more than nine out of ten patients were waiting less than 18 weeks. we are working hard to cut long waits for the number of patients waiting over a year for treatment to drop. nhs england argues that more operations are carried out every year. a new report shows fewer lives

were lost in england and wales after heart failure, partly because more specialists and new medicines were available in hospitals. scotland, wales and northern ireland have also seen rising waiting lists for surgery though with different target standards. andy's10—month wait was unusual but more patients around the uk are experiencing longer delays, more pain and frustration. hugh pym, bbc news. now on bbc news it's time for newsnight. questions on culture, religion and sex. it doesn't come more awkward than that, but in the wake of several street grooming crimes involving muslims, questions that have to be asked. they are not asian, but are they japanese, are they korean, are they malaysian? no, they are muslim of pakistani extraction, bangladeshi descent, turkish connections, whatever. why we afraid to say

they are muslim? tonight, with a panel of four young muslims, we hear the debate within their community, on what the problem is, and how to solve it. also tonight, the paradox of the nationalflag carrier. british airways' profit is flying high. but the brand seems to be having an ever bumpier ride. you know that feeling when a guy you like sends you a text at two clock on a tuesday night asking if he can come and find you? and too much too good, as facebook launches its version of tv, we wonder whether the industry can keep up the pace on the production of blockbuster shows. hello. after rotherham, rochdale, 0xford, derby and quite a few other cases,