this is bbc news. the headlines at 3:00pm. donald trump says the united states is "locked and loaded" when it comes to the north korea crisis. germany and russia urge both sides to dial down the rhetoric. regulators approve a move to secure the pensions of tens of thousands of tata steelworkers — the workforce voted for the deal, but many say they feel cheated. all of a sudden, you're coming to the end of your working life. you've got two years left and you've got to work another seven years in order to get what you've worked at your entire life without any penalties, and they feel cheated. a man's been sentenced to life in prison for of his brother, and attempting to murder his brother's girlfriend by setting them on fire as they slept. fifteen countries including the uk have imported eggs from the netherlands contaminated by a pesticide — the risk to health is said to be very low. the farmers here are hugely concerned about the damage that has been done to their reputation. they are doing everything within their power to restore that. also in the next hour...

and a friendship forged through football. one month after the death of bradley lowery, jermain defoe speaks for the first time about how they met. for me, there is no bigger motivation to think, if he can go through that and fight, then i can go through anything. and, strange flotsam — giant segments of pipe wash up on a norfolk beach — the longest measuring nearly 500 metres. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has said the rhetoric from washington and pyongyang has now gone over the top and he helps now gone over the top and he hopes

common sense will prevail. he has also said there is a russia—chinese plan to defuse the crisis. the intervention follows president trump stepping up the rhetoric against north korea. he warned that us military options are "locked and loaded", should pyongyang act unwisely. the united states and north korea have been engaged in a war of words for days with pyongyang threatening to fire missiles towards the american island of guam in the pacific. the german chancellor said she saw no military solution, warning that escalating rhetoric was not the way to deal with north korea, while china has urged both sides to be cautious with their words and actions. tom burridge reports. as the war of words between america and north korea continues, the us defence secretary this week with his vietnamese counterpart, at a time when security in asia feels more fragile. the man in charge at the pentagon is emphasising the ‘d‘ word. i didn't expect all of you to come out here! you can see the american effort

is diplomatically—led, it has diplomatic traction and is gaining diplomatic results, and i want to stay right there right now. the tragedy of war is well—enough known. it doesn't need another characterisation beyond the fact that it would be catastrophic. but the tone from the president was very different. his message to north korea's leader feels personal. he has said things that are horrific, and with me he's not getting away with it. he got away with it for a long time, between him and his family. he's not getting away with... this is a whole new ball game. in a tweet this morning, president trump said military solutions were locked and loaded should north korea act unwisely. hopefully, he said, kimjong—un will find another path. north korea has carried out missile test after missile test this year. the latest type could

possibly hit alaska. each an act of defiance towards america and its allies. japan's missile defence system is more relevant now. the japanese government sees pressure via sanctions as the answer. all options are on the table. we are currently trying to have as much and strongest possible pressure to the north koreans so that we will have a way out in a peaceful way. recent tests of american air defence systems in south korea. the island of guam, which pyongyang identified as a possible target, is also protected. but for all the hot language, the atmosphere on this tropical us territory in the western pacific is cool. tom burridge, bbc news. our correspondent yogita limaye is in the south korean capital seoul. here in south korea, this is a

country that is caught in a difficult position. as one analyst here was telling me, the government here was telling me, the government here would perhaps preferfor the us to not use that kind of language, and for this situation to be diffused as quickly as possible. this country's national security adviser spoke to his counterpart in the us today. they talked about how to contain the threat of north korea. we also told in that conversation that the us did agree that if it plans any kind of preventive strike against north korea it would keep seoul informed. this is the country that has most to lose if any kind of war breaks out. on the one hand it has ramped up defensive capability but on the other it has always made the offer of dialogue with north korea. it's an offer the president made injuly and it was an offer reiterated by the country this week. sergei lavrov

in moscow suggesting that there is a rush — chinese plan afoot. what do we know about that? -- a russia - chinese plan. so far we don't know what that might mean. china has come out to say both sides need to calm down. today there was a statement coming from the chinese foreign ministry which said that everyone involved in this situation should act very cautiously, should not use any word or words that could escalate tensions. they say this is a very complicated and sensitive situation. i was asking analysts, how do you diffused this and calm down the tensions? many feel the international community has to step in to intervene. one analyst says china could perhaps play that role. the pensions regulator has approved a plan by tata steel to give thousands of its workers in the uk less generous pensions but safeguard their jobs. the deal should secure the pensions of 130,000

steelworkers and stop the company becoming insolvent. finalising the pension arrangements is expected to clear the way for a possible merger with a rival german company. our correspondent, simon gompertz reports. it's the deal designed to keep port talbot steelworks running and salvage more from the pension scheme than the minimum amount guaranteed by the uk's pension lifeboat, pension protection fund — the uk's pension lifeboat. it depends on your attitude to risk, your personal circumstances. so tha's the first step to get the ball rolling before we transfer anything? workers have been going to meetings briefing them on their options, after tata steel pledged hundreds of millions of pounds and a share of the business to head off the worst damage to pensions. they see both the amount and when they can retire under threat. all of a sudden, you're coming to the end of your working life. you've got two years left and you've got to work another seven years in order to get what you've worked at your entire life without any penalties, and they feel cheated. they are very bitter about it. it looks like the choice facing

current and former steelworkers is to opt in to a new pension scheme which may have lower annual increases, to escape to the pension protection fund which pays some 10% less, or to transfer the whole value as cash to a personal pension, giving up the promise of an income for life. the future of steelworkers' pensions is wrapped up with the future of steel in europe. this deal offloading pension promises and opening the way to a megamerger of tata steel in the uk with a bigger rival, thyssenkrupp, to try to achieve economies of scale. in the immediate future, the prospects for port talbot and all the satellite works in north wales and so on, they look very good, but in the long run a merger with thyssenkrupp is likely to lead to some rationalisation. there are still complaints that workers who have contributed to the company pension scheme in good faith should not now be losing some

of their retirement income. the pension protection fund is there to protect the members, not the companies themselves, so i think the issue everyone has is why should they be allowed tojoin the bbf, with tata steel worldwide having plenty of cash, as we know? plenty of questions as port talbot reaches a new future. will workers switch to the new scheme? will they still have support in future if needed? simon gompertz, bbc news. just a couple of bits of breaking news, first of all a case we are hearing about from correspondence duncan kennedy about a cannabis factory that was created in a former nuclear bunker. three menjailed for

running a cannabis factory inside a former nuclear bunker in wiltshire. one was given eight years for conspiracy to produce cannabis, and two other defendants given five yea rs two other defendants given five years for the same offence. all three admitted the charges which involved the production of around £2 million of cannabis per year. the judge said they had run the biggest cannabis factory ever seen in the south of england. the bunker was later sold by the ministry of defence. the three were accused of extracting up to £650,000 of electricity to grow the cannabis. i think we can join electricity to grow the cannabis. i think we canjoin duncan kennedy electricity to grow the cannabis. i think we can join duncan kennedy who is following the case for us. the scale of this makes the eyes widen. the scale of the growing of the cannabis but also where it was located in the bunker. can't see it

in the road, built in the 1980s to how is 150 officials in the event of a nuclear attack. a very secret place and why the gang targeted it and set up their operation inside. the operation from cold war films, about 20 rooms filled with cannabis, lots of heating equipment they had so—called gardeners tending to the crop, living their round. these men we re crop, living their round. these men were in the bunker running the factory for something like three yea rs. factory for something like three years. a huge operation. you mentioned the electricity, that's what they were doing, bypassing the meter and effectively stealing the electricity to the tune of up to £650,000 over the course of those

three years. the men would come in in the middle of the night and move the cannabis, sell it on to the black market. this went on through the course of three years, all without anybody knowing what went on. it was only after a tip—off they realise the scale of this. earlier this year police mounted raids to bring the operation to an end. in the last few minutes the three men involved, have just been sentenced. thejudge making involved, have just been sentenced. the judge making it involved, have just been sentenced. thejudge making it clear that involved, have just been sentenced. the judge making it clear that it's the scale of this that brought the sentence to the level it was. very much so, the high end of the sentencing for this. particularly for the mastermind, martin fillory. at the end of the 1990s, after the cold war and the fall of communism, the bunker was sold on by the

ministry of defence. mr fillory try to buy it about three years ago. they ended up renting it from another man. but he was the mastermind behind this, setting up the cannabis operation, bringing in the cannabis operation, bringing in the other two men and no doubt other people as well because this was a huge conspiracy, although only three men pleaded guilty to date for it. they brought in maybe £140,000 of equipment. there were lamps, ways of watering the plants, and it was across two floors where something like 4400 plants were found when the police raided. these people were growing crops every six weeks and then drying them out and passing them on to the black market. a huge operation located in this extraordinary situation of a nuclear bunker. it's not the back garden or the industrial premises that you sometimes read about with the stories where gangs operate. this is inside a formerly secret nuclear bunker in the middle of the

wiltshire countryside. duncan kennedy there. in other news, we're hearing that at least 11 people have been convicted in one of the largest modern slavery trials in british legal history. members of that rooney family from lincoln ran a company called lincolnshire driveway specialising in tarmac in and block paving. their workforce were vulnerable slaves, picked up from the streets, some of whom were alcoholics, homeless or suffering learning difficulties. patrick rooney, seen posing for pictures with staff at the family business, lincolnshire driveway. it looks professional, offering tarmac in and block paving, but some of the workers were slaves, kept in appalling conditions and paid little oi’ appalling conditions and paid little or nothing. the court heard how they we re or nothing. the court heard how they were approached on the streets by defendants and offered work. one homeless victim, who was picked up

in hull said he thought he would be awake for seven days. he lived on the rooney's land in a caravan for seven years. referencejeremy collymore worked in a homeless shelter in lincoln. he tried to protect potential victims. we introduced a number of systems so that the people who were homeless we re that the people who were homeless were not left alone and vulnerable. we were aware that the rooney family would have a series of bands going around seeking to find vulnerable people on the streets and persuade them they could offer them a nice ca rava n them they could offer them a nice caravan and so them they could offer them a nice caravan and so on them they could offer them a nice caravan and so on and so forth. me and my staff would often see them, and my staff would often see them, and they would see us. there was across the road meaningful looks. lincolnshire driveway is states on its website that it's under new management. at one customer who dealt with patrick rooney described how some workers were treated. we

protected his identity. they were not treated as civilised at all. they were treated as subhuman. i was truly astonished. there was no machine to strip the old tarmac off, nothing. these guys did it all by hand. and it was extremely hard work for them, i will give them that. they didn't stop. they didn't have any breaks or anything. all they got was as making a few cups of tea and some chocolate biscuits. they were delighted to get a cup of tea. i knew and they knew that they weren't going to get anything else, not for the day. at an earlier hearing the jury the day. at an earlier hearing the jui’y were the day. at an earlier hearing the jury were shown pictures of the ca rava ns jury were shown pictures of the caravans where the victims lived. thejudge described caravans where the victims lived. the judge described these as squalid and utterly appalling. by contrast, the rooney family enjoyed fast cars, foreign holidays, and as thejudge described, lived in immaculate homes. at the heart of this court

case, 18 vulnerable slaves. some of whom had lost years or even decades. some are malnourished, some are beaten, all exploited. lindsay smith, bbc news. you are watching bbc news, the headlines this afternoon. 11 people, at least ten of whom are from the same family, are found guilty of offences under the modern slavery act following one of the biggest investigations of its kind. three men have beenjailed for turning an underground nuclear bunker into what has been called the largest cannabis factory to be found in the south of england. donald trump has described the united states as locked and loaded when it comes to the north korea crisis. the president warns military solutions are now in place. in sport, liverpool midfielder philippe coutinho has handed in a tra nsfer philippe coutinho has handed in a transfer request. the club had earlier denied this, insisting the brazilian would not be sold. barcelona have already put in a bid

for £90 million that was rejected by the club. and it's back, the premier league kicking off this weekend, starting tonight with arsenal hosting leicester city. and six months ago she broke her foot, hosting leicester city. and six months ago she broke herfoot, but 110w months ago she broke herfoot, but now she has made the final of the 200 metres with dina asher—smith running a personal best to make it. i will be back with more of those stories just after 3:30pm. the pensions regulator has approved a plan by tata steel to give thousands of its workers in the uk less generous pensions but safeguard their jobs. the deal should secure the pensions of 130,000 steelworkers and stop the company becoming insolvent. finalising the pension arrangements is expected to clear the way for a possible merger with a rival german company. steve webb, director of policy at royal london joins us from bristol it's always been about the balance between protecting jobs and getting a pension people value. that's right, the danger was if tata steel

became insolvent then pensions would go to the lifeboat scheme and the pension protection fund and the jobs would be lost. hopefully what has been done today is that the jobs have been saved and people will get pensions that might be slightly better than they would have done, but not still be full pension they we re but not still be full pension they were originally promised. you can understand the frustration because we have spoken to some who will have to work several more years when they thought they were nearing retirement. it's always very disappointing if you have expected a certain level of pension and it doesn't happen. company pensions in britain depend on the sponsoring employer remaining in business. if they go to the wall than in the past, ten or 15 years ago, you could have lost a huge proportion of your pension. fortunately there is now a safety net scheme, the pension protection fund, that provides a decent floor, but it will not be what everyone was expecting. how does tata come out of this? at one

stage they said they were losing £1 million a day. the pensions regulator, what they announce today is that they believe without this deal tata steel uk would have become insolvent and then jobs would have been lost and pension promises would not have been met in full either. it's rare for these deals to be done, not easily handed out, so the regulators must have been certain that without this deal both jobs and pensions would be at risk. you are a former minister of state for pensions. you would know what the options being discussed were, and this is the least bad, if you like. that's right. various other desperate measures were thought of in the last year or so. there was idea of having a law change just for the british steel scheme, which would have been strange to do, letting the scheme float on without a head or employer behind it. that would have been very strange. at least now we have a new british steel scheme that will have money put into it by the company, shares from tata steel would go into the

scheme and the cost of the scheme would be reduced so it ought to be able to stand pretty much on its own feet, but with tata steel behind it, giving a measure of security that perhaps wouldn't have happened in other circumstances. a couple of yea rs other circumstances. a couple of years ago it looked very grim and there will be a sigh of relief for many today. i think that's right. the members of the scheme now have a number of alternatives. my strong advice for members would be to wait and not rush in because they will have to choose between remaining in the old scheme and ending up in the pension protection fund, or moving into the new one with slightly less generous benefits than they would in the past. or even transferring a whole lot out. those are conjugated choices. financial experts would struggle to know which is the right to do sometimes. the key thing is to ta ke to do sometimes. the key thing is to take time to take advice before making any key decisions. nearly two months after the grenfell tower fire, there's concern public donations aren't reaching survivors

quickly enough. figures from the charity commission show that less than 15% of the money raised has so far been distributed — although the commission says that the early difficulties in identifying and contacting people who need help, are now being overcome. frankie mccamley reports. the response to the fire at grenfell tower was unprecedented. clothes, food and money was donated from all over the world, but with so many organisations collecting funds, the charity commission stepped in to help coordinate efforts with some of the biggest charities. but two months on, figures from the commission show only £2.5 million of the £18 million collected has been distributed to those affected. this whole country and beyond has donated a large amount of money to all the victims of grenfell tower, yet on the ground there is nothing, these people ain't getting the revenue. grants were announced for residents including £20,000 for people who lost their homes when moving

into a new one. another £20,000 to the next of kin of those who died in the fire, and £10,000 to people who spent a week or more in hospital. with less than 15% of some of these donations making it to those affected by the fire at grenfell tower, frustration is building and questions are being raised as to whether this system is actually working, and why it is taking so long for the money to make it to those who need it most. £2.6 million has flowed out of the funds so far, and also in the next phase charities wanted to engage with the survivors and the communities to understand their views and wishes for what they expected funds to be used for. it comes as residents of a nearby estate in south—east london have been told they'll have to move out. cracks in the walls have been found so if there was a gas explosion

the building could collapse. we are shocked. we feel angry, we feel very upset. and quite confused as well because we are not getting any further answers at the moment. i kind of expected it for a while, because we had doubts about the structural safety of the blocks, relating to gas as well, which was one of the issues apart from the fire, apart from the fire safety issues. but i can't really take it in, really. i think we basically have to move. it is somewhere i have lived for 15 years. southwark council says it is doing all it can to help and is putting residents' safety first, but now there are concerns about the cost of fixing buildings here and across the country. many now questioning who is going to foot an ever—growing bill. frankie mccamley, bbc news. a teenager accused of preparing a terror attack in the uk

will face trial injanuary. haider ahmed, who is 18 and from redhill in surrey, appeared at the old bailey via video link from feltham prison. he is charged with preparing terrorist acts and three further charges of disseminating a terrorist publication, between march and august 2016. he's been remanded in custody. lawyers representing an investment fund manager eric bellquist, who was arrested in relation to the putney bridge jogger investigation, have categorically denied that he was involved in the incident stating their client was in america at the time of the incident. the metropolitan police yesterday arrested and later released a 41 year old man, on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, after police released cctv footage in a public appeal which appeared to show a male jogger on putney bridge pushing a 33 year old woman towards the road and into the path of an oncoming bus which narrowly missed her. the eu's food safety commissioner has called for an end to countries blaming and shaming each other, after eggs were found to contain traces of an insecticide — fipronil — which can be dangerous to humans in high doses.

the commissioner called for an urgent meeting of eu ministers and regulators. the contaminated eggs came from the netherlands. we spoke a short time ago to our netherlands correspondent anna holligan from a poultry farm in dalfsen. she said that farmers there are worried that their reputations will be damaged by this scare. there are 25,000 hens inside this poultry farm. that might sound like a lot, but this isjust a tiny portion of what is a vast industry. that's part of the problem and part of the recently contaminated eggs have spread so far and so fast. we are hearing now that some have reached hong kong. the eggs here have been exported to germany in the past. we know more than 3 million eggs have been removed from shelves. the farmers here are hugely concerned about the damage that has been done to their reputation. they are doing everything within their

power to restore that. a huge row has now broken out, it started out asa has now broken out, it started out as a crisis within the dutch poultry industry, and now the row is enveloping politicians. belgium and the netherlands, the authorities are blaming each other saying they should have alerted each other soon to the problem. as far as the investigation goes, there were raids yesterday in 19 properties of companies suspected of either importing, preparing, supplying or using this banned chemical. it's called fipronil, as everybody will probably be familiar with now. it's a dutch company that is under suspicion for using this banned chemical to kill lice in chickens. more than 180 dutch farms were closed down. this one is contamination free, and their chickens are all very curious and happy, as you can see. two directors

of this dutch company called chick friend have been arrested. chemicals have been seized. the question now for the eu, and they have agreed to hold a summit in september, the question for the authorities is, how can this happen. it's a reflection of the vast might of the dutch poultry industry the fact that so many eggs have been withdrawn from the shelves. we know in the uk we are talking mostly about things like sandwiches and salads, the rogers rather than the eggs themselves. —— the produce. it has put a lot of people off their eggs. here in the netherlands we have been into the supermarkets and the shelves are virtually bare, just organic eggs remaining. consumers say that here at least they have faith in the industry. that's something now that the eu commissioners are rushing to try to restore right across europe.

it's not unusual to find some flotsam orjetsam washed up on a beach in british summertime — but the coast of norfolk has seen some unusually large debris make itself at home on the shore. the maritime and coastguard agency confirmed two large plastic pipes measuring eight—feet in diameter have washed up on beaches at winterton and sea pallling — with the largest segment reaching more than 1500 feet. the pipes came loose while being towed to north africa and another 10 segments are still at sea. the agency said they pose no danger or risk of pollution. follow that with a bit of weather. not looking bad at all this weekend,

cloud rain this evening going downhill course of this afternoon rain southeast not a lot, tonight overcast breaks in the cloud, next couple of nights we have the shooting stars so if we get clear skies you will see them. tomorrow not looking bad at all, sunny spells, a few showers and sunday a better day. sunshine clouds gathering south west reaching by monday on balance sunday fine saturday and sunday i think the weather mostly set fair. you are watching bbc news, the headlines at 3:30pm: 11 people — at least ten

of whom are from the same family — have been found guilty of offences under the modern slavery act. three men have beenjailed for turning an underground nuclear bunker into what's been called the "largest cannabis factory to be found in the south of england". president trump's issued another warning to north korea, describing the us as "locked and loaded" — the russian foreign minister says the rhetoric from both parties is over the top. a plan by tata steel to give thousands of its uk workers less generous pensions but safeguard theirjobs has been approved by the pensions regulator. time for the sport! it's all going off in the football at the moment, it has emerged philippe coutinho has handed in a tra nsfer philippe coutinho has handed in a transfer request which context the

clu bs transfer request which context the clubs earlier claim that reports that the brazilian midfielder put in a request were not true. they rejected a bid of £90 million from barcelona this week and issued a statement today saying he was definitively not for sale. he signed a new five—year deal with liverpool in january. i can't keep players happy, i can't keep you happy, if you are happy you are happy, if you're not happy you'll not be happier because i say be happy. that is how life is. he's not available for us and for me that's the bigger issue, that he's not able to play. and all the rest again, it's not for you, it is between me and all the boys. busy day at the world athletics championships so let's head to the london stadium, we have had the morning session oliver? yes

we have, it was busy on the track and field, just wish it was a bit busier in the stands, less than half full but friday morning, fairly low— key, full but friday morning, fairly low—key, the decathlon but going but still plenty of british interest. all eyes on the highjump qualification, robbie grabaz five yea rs qualification, robbie grabaz five years ago in the stadium a fantastic bronze medalfor team years ago in the stadium a fantastic bronze medal for team gb, years ago in the stadium a fantastic bronze medalfor team gb, he scraped into the final with thatjump, he had already failed twice at 2.31 but he cleared it so has qualified automatically. had he failed it would have been a pretty nervous wait to see if he could get to the final. his last chance, he said he is getting too old, he has never won a world medal but he will be in that final. i made it stressfulfor myself and everyone else. i was jumping technically really badly so it's a nice place to be, to make the

final badly. it's exciting to be here, first time i've been really nervous in my whole life so dealing with that, i will neverjump in london in a major championships again so it's quite an exciting place to be, i was running so fast thinking i could do it and give myself nowhere to go. we will see how he gets on, this was the 100 metre hurdles, the first round, both british interests out, tiffany porter, she won bronze two world championships ago, said she was embarrassed, only had to finish in the top four, she came sixth. i have been really struggling this year. many setbacks. just not in the form that i need to be. that was massively disappointing but what can i say? can you elaborate? i have had

some niggles and personal stuff i have been dealing with that i did not want to miss out on this opportunity, i wanted to put my best foot forward but it's so embarrassing to come out here and run like that. this is the men's decathlon three disciplines this morning, the 100 metres, the long jump morning, the 100 metres, the long jump and that was the shot put, ashley bryant of great britain 17th after three events. and potentially after three events. and potentially a medal hope on the track tonight for great britain? let's hope so, it's been a long time since mo farah's gold it's been a long time since mo fa rah‘s gold medal it's been a long time since mo farah's gold medal in the 10,000 metres, running out of chances but dina asher—smith, the stadium absolutely dina asher—smith, the stadium a bsolutely loves dina asher—smith, the stadium absolutely loves her. she goes on during metres final, five years ago she was carrying jessica ennis—hill's stuff out on super

saturday, the crowd loved her getting through her heat so we will see how she goes this evening. dafne schippers in that one as well. it's going to be a hot final. lorraine coogan in the women's long jump final will be highly competitive, she has given herself a chance, daria kasatkina competing as a neutral athlete and also the olympic and world champion, but the long jump and dina asher—smith, we'll keep everything crossed. thanks, that's all for now, we'll be back with more in the next hour. air passengers were most likely to be delayed over the last two summers if they flew from gatwick airport or with easyjet. data from the civil aviation authority for those periods have been analysed by the bbc, and show that among the ten biggest airlines, easyjet travellers suffered an average delay of 24 minutes.

gatwick and easyjet say many of the delays were beyond their control as our business correspondent emma simpson reportd. up, up and away, but how often do they take off on time? the bbc has been looking at the data. gatwick airport had the longest delays with an average of 27 minutes. luton was not far behind. doing much better, leeds bradford and belfast city airports, both with average delays of ten minutes. the summer season can be a pinch point. gatwick has the single busiest runway in the world with planes often taking off and landing every minute. things are going smoothly here today, but if this schedule slips it can have big knock—on effects. we absolutely recognise the inconvenience caused to our passengers, but most of the time our flights are ready

to go, but they simply cannot depart because we are up against the challenge of congested airspace over our heads, bad weather across the whole european region and european air traffic strikes. we fly to europe more than anyone else and, as a result, we are disproportionately more affected. as for the airlines, easyjet had the longest delays with an average of 24 minutes. it said having the biggest number of flights was a factor. thomas cook came next at 19. the shortest delays were at aer lingus, with 12 minutes. i think airports like gatwick need to think about building in a bit more resilience. i think airlines like easyjet should have, perhaps, more resources for the schedule they are hoping to deliver, but, ultimately, it's us passengers saying, "we want loads of cheap flights, please." how best to meet the growing demand? the government reckons 30 minute delays could be the norm unless the airspace above london and europe is redesigned to ease the congestion. there's been an explosion at a house in sunderland.

emergency services have responded and the police have declared a "major incident" but say there is nothing at this time to suggest the explosion is connected to terrorism. the north east ambulance service have said that one person is in a "serious condition". a short time ago we caught up with our correspondent megan paterson who brought us up to date with the latest from the scene. as you can see the police cordon is still in place. emergency services were called this morning just before nine o'clock after people living nearby reported hearing a loud explosion, that explosion has destroyed completely one part of a semidetached property and its damaged badly the neighbouring property. there were no the talent is but one woman was seriously injured, she was rescued by the fire service this morning, pulled her out from the rubble and she is receiving treatment. we understand that although the injuries are serious she is in a stable condition. at the moment the cause is not clear, investigations will continue this afternoon and possibly on into the weekend to establish that but the police are keen to reiterate that they do not expect this incident to be related in any way to terrorism. a season of destruction, house

collapsing, a lady was taken out of the property and has been taken to a local hospital where her condition is stable but serious. this is an ongoing police investigation. i cannot really tell you much more at the moment but everyone has been accounted for, there are no talent is at the moment and it's all part of the ongoing investigation. the emergency services have mainly left the scene, the cordon is being lifted to allow vehicles to leave but work will continue this afternoon to look at the structural damage which has affected notjust the main properties involved but the

other properties in this street, people waiting to find out how they will be effected in neighbouring properties. to that point what have people been saying to you? many people were having breakfast and getting ready to go out for the day and described hearing a loud bang which made one lady's years pop and another lady told me she felt her shop rattling beneath her, one described it as being like a bomb going off. a lot of alarm and then people coming out on the street to see clouds of dust, lots of rubble in the street and people nearby very anxious to work out what was going on. one lady has been injured but now waiting to see what happens next, when they can get back into their homes. at the moment it looks isolated, people waiting and hoping

they can get back home soon. moeen ali is arguably one of england's finest cricketers, winning man of the series after the recent test match against south africa. his father, munir is himself a cricket coach — and has told the bbc that moeen's secret is a positive mental attitude. our correspondent sima kotecha reports. it's amazing, you know, listening about your son, being talked so highly of, it is a great feeling. a proud father. his son moeen is the man of the moment. his recent performance against south africa made headlines. munir says his success is down to a positive mental attitude that is unsha keable. his belief, self—confidence, you know. he is not afraid of anything. he just goes and plays his natural way. so his positive thinking, not being phased by who's bowling, he loves the challenge.

you know, they say when the going gets tough the tough get going, and that's moeen right. i remember when moeen was young, i said to him, you give me two years of your life, and i'll give you the rest. the two years that i wanted him just to concentrate and focus on his game and do nothing, he worked very very hard, and after two years he started to show signs and he got selected for england under—19s, that sort of stuff. the alis are from birmingham, a city fighting extremism. he believes cricket can help those at the cost of radicalisation. playing sport becomes physically healthy. you know, you need to look after the physical side of your body so, you know, it helps a lot being involved in sport, yes, and it also keeps your away from bad people. moeen ali is the only south asian cricketer in england's test team. he was recently named man of the series. his nickname is the beard that's feared, something his father is very fond of. i will go to the matches and i will see people

there with the artificial beards, so they love him for what he is, you know, and he is more famous for his beard, i think, than anything else. sima kotecha, bbc news, birmingham. residents are being told they may be evacuated to temporary accommodation of the next few weeks, the issue with the gas supply was discovered during an investigation into fire safety prompted by the grenfell tower fire. for residents this is a worrying and unsettling time, they had initially asked the council to come and look at these blocks because large cracks have appeared so the council sent in structural engineers but they potentially find a much more serious problem. these blocks were built between 1968 and 1970 and the idea at the time was

that there should have been things put in place in the building to strengthen it, to mitigate against the effects of a gas explosion. in a tower block in new in 1960 there was a gas explosion which caused part of the power of tower block to collapse, but the police see having looked at the work done then they are not convinced the work was done at all or if it was done it may not have been done properly so that is why they have taken the decision to cut off the gas supply immediately for all the residents. it will affect 224 households and they are also saying in the coming weeks and months it is likely the residents will have to move out temporarily while they do work to try to make the tower blocks safe again. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc news: 11 people — at least ten

of whom are from the same family — have been found guilty of offences under the modern slavery act three men have beenjailed for turning an underground nuclear bunker into what's been called the "largest cannabis factory to be found in the south of england". president trump's issued another warning to north korea, describing the us as "locked and loaded" — the russian foreign minister says the rhetoric from both parties is over the top. steel company tata has formally announced it is to separate its uk pension scheme from the business. it could mean a potential merger with the german steel producer thyssenkrupp is more likely to move forward. the british steel pension scheme has been a significant barrier to an agreement. energy companies say more than three million electricity customers have switched suppliers so far this year, to take advantage of cheaper deals — an increase of 14% over the same period last year. however, those taking action are still in a minority despite rising bills.

google's parent company alphabet has cancelled a company wide meeting to discuss the company's policies on diversity. earlier this week a male software engineer was sacked for arguing in a memo the lack of women in top tech jobs was due to biological differences between men and women. the meeting was cancelled because of safety concerns when right—wing commentators published the names of certain employees. what do barack obama, bill gates, angelina jolie and queen victoria all have in common? they — like about 10% of the world — are left handed. but if you're a leftie can you always get products which work with you? well this sunday is left handed day celebrating and selling all things left. keith milsom is the owner of the firm anything left handed. welcome, it's a very niche business, is it hard to make money? it's a

small family business which has been traded for a long time. particularly left—handed children needing things like scissors and pens for school. in terms of the challenges people face, scissors is quite a well—known challenge, what about in the workplace? all sorts of practical things, commuters are more widely used, a mouse is usually on the right—hand side and let michael or you start by bucking a lunatic? the wrong place and you cannot stretch cables far enough to make things fit, all sorts of practical things fit, all sorts of practical things the environment, scissors, kitchen equipment, school equipment. children in the schools, they need

to adapt to pupils difficulties. the left—handed can easily overcome these things. instruction on how to hold a pen properly for example. a lot of what we do is aimed at children and parents and we produce a lot of guides and information for books for people. sunday is left—handed day, what does that mean? one day a year we tried to get publicity and promote things on social media to try to arrange awareness amongst the right—handed majority because most parents and teachers are right—handed and will not have had a left—handed child so are not familiar with these issues. it's one day we can raise awareness and those of us who are left—handed.

here's a look at some other stories we're following today. heathrow said it recorded its best—ever single month in its history injuly as the summer getaway sent passenger numbers soaring to record highs. some 7.53 million passengers went through the airport injuly, an increase of 1.2% on lastjuly. if you rent a home from a private landlord, the chances are you will suffer from ‘home—owning hopelessness'. that doesn't sound too healthy. does it? this from a report by the local government association. it says nearly two thirds of private renters in england now never expect to buy their own property and they say councils need powers and funding to create a mix of affordable housing options. nationwide has reported a sharp fall in mortgage lending, mainly due to making fewer buy—to—let loans. between april to june it lent £2.4 billion in mortgages. in the same period last year it lent £3.5 billion. it did say though that more people opened a current account with it during that period than with any other provider.

let's have a look at the markets before we go. at least 18 people have been killed ina train at least 18 people have been killed in a train crash in egypt. the head—on collision between two passenger trains happened close to the coastal town of alexandria. the cause of it is not yet known. it's just over a month since six—year—old bradley lowery died after battling a rare form of cancer. the sunderland fan won a legion of supporters across the country, including footballerjermain defoe. now, in his first interview since bradley's death, jermain told the bbc how he's been inspired by the little boy he called his "best mate". it was in september last year when jermain first walked out with bradley and from,

that moment on, a friendship was made. that story of brad's is just special. i've got a nice picture in the house of me and brads at the england game. i walked him out and we sang the national anthem. but, yeah, it's a special story, you know? my best friend. it was genuine. i mean, he was a kid, all he knew is... i don't know, hejust loved his football. he loved me. i loved him. but i could see his eyes it was genuine because as a child, there was nothing i could give him, apart from just being a friend. they were best friends and it was a friendship that captured the hearts of everyone. it was an instant connection and one that continues with bradley's mum and dad. even towards the end when he was really struggling

and he was in bed, he couldn't really move, i would walk into the room and he'd jump up and his mum is, like, "he hasn't moved all day!" so, yeah, for me every time i saw him it was a special feeling. the emotion is still raw, but the impact the little boy has had on defoe has been a positive one. the bournemouth striker calls it "a gift" and says he will both be forever grateful that bradley came into his life. in a funny sort of way i wake up and i think, i don't know, if you've got a headache or you don't feel well or feel tired, "just snap out of it!" if i can see a little kid suffer like that and still fight, then... i mean, for me, there is no bigger motivation to think, "well, if he can go through that and fight, then i can go through anything." you walked out with him so many times, but was the england moment the best? yeah, that was the best. i remember being down the tunnel and he was looking for me, like he does, and i came down the tunnel and gave him a cuddle and joe hart said to me, "jermaine, will you walk the team out?" for him to do that, that was special. then we walked out and just standing there singing the national anthem with brads on mother's day

and being back involved in the england squad and actually playing at wembley. and scoring. for me, yeah, it was one of the best moments of my career. and you can see the full interview with jermaine defoe on football focus tomorrow — that's on bbc one at midday. time for a look at the weather. switch it on, that's it, now we can hear you. there we go, apologies, my fault entirely. let's get on to the forecast, cloudy, sunny start across the south—east parts of the midlands

early in the day had sunshine and many of us cloudy afternoon with some rain rest of this afternoon and this evening we will lose those clear skies in the south—east and light rain overall not raining nonstop dribs and drabs clear spells not desperately saturday weekend overall mostly dry this is what the map looks like, whether front clearing away behind it the weather improving maybe early in the morning on saturday some cloud and bits and pieces but in the afternoon the cloud breaks up and most of us should have sunny spells there will be showers around on saturday but not many, if you are out in the middle of the day lunchtime this is what it looks like sunny spells

across the north west, mostly light showers, you can clearly see we've got a lot more dry weather than wet weather and as we go through the course of the day i think skies will get brighter and brighter across southern and eastern areas, 19 degrees already at a about noon and then through the afternoon you can see showers dotted around on balance a fine afternoon temperatures will peak at around 22 tomorrow in london, belfast and glasgow around 18 celsius, a fine saturday afternoon, saturday night also looking great, skies were clear and we have the shooting star is good cat can park that you this is saturday nice and son a bit of rain once the weekend has gone back into

the cloud and rain and maybe tuesday improving a little bit can't see any real prolonged summer weather returning just a typical up and down the hill, that's the latest. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4:00pm. 11 people from the same family are found guilty of offences under the modern slavery act — following one of the biggest investigations of its kind. victims were kept in what has been described as truly shocking conditions, some for decades. three men have beenjailed for turning an underground nuclear bunker into what's been called the "largest cannabis factory to be found in the south of england". germany and russia urge both sides to dial down the rhetoric. donald trump says the united states is "locked and loaded" when it comes to the north korea crisis. regulators approve a move to secure the pensions of tens of thousands of tata steelworkers — the workforce voted for the deal, but many say they feel cheated. fifteen countries including

the uk have imported eggs from the netherlands contaminated by a pesticide — the risk to health is said to be very low. also in the next hour...