hello this is bbc news. the headlines. four young men have been killed after two cars crashed in leeds in the early hours of this morning. police are appealing for information. patients in england may no longer be able to have some procedures that are deemed ‘ineffective‘. new proposals mean treatments ranging from tonsil removal to haemorroid surgery will be offered to fewer people. tata steel, which owns britain's largest steel—making plant at port talbot — has confirmed merger plans with the german industrial group, thyssenkrupp. thousands of people turned out to applaud military personnel at the main celebration of armed forces day, in north wales. and now on bbc news, it's time for witness. hello and welcome to witness,

with me, rebecca jones. i'm here at the british library to guide you through another five extraordinary moments from recent history. we'll meet a survivor of an australian town which was devastated by asbestos. we'll talk to an architect tasked with replacing the twin towers after 9—11. we have the colonel who fought for gay rights in israel's military. and we'll hear how the world cup disappeared in 1966, and how it was found by one man and his dog. but we start with a spy scandal and a diplomatic row between london and moscow. sound familiar?

well, this one took place in the 19705, in the midst of the cold war, and resulted in 90 soviet officials being expelled from britain. we've been hearing an inside account of the affair from george walden, who was then on the soviet desk in britain's foreign office. at london's heathrow airport, someone, somewhere has got a list. on it, 90 names, russians — men and women — considered by the security services of this country to have had some part in activities organised by the russian intelligence service. espionage on a massive scale. every country has its intelligence services. some of them, to put it delicately, are more active than others. and in the case of the soviet union, their offensive intelligence services were way, way beyond anyone else's. we were getting increasingly fed up simply with the volume of soviet intelligence officers who were being stuffed

into the embassy and the trade delegation in london. i recall at the time the security services, mi5, telling me that they couldn't actually keep an eye on such massive numbers of people. and i learnt, to my surprise, that it took about nine security men to follow one soviet espionage officer. and so we were on a losing game. we didn't know because of the sheer numbers, really, what they were up to. this man agreed to talk about his experiences with the kgb. he's british and we'll call him jim walker. he's a research scientist in the field of nuclear energy and, sometime ago, he was at a conference. there, too, a party of russians. he talked particularly to one russian, a man he came to know as victor, a soviet diplomat.

the soviet intelligence agents, with which the embassy and the trade delegation were stuffed at the time, were approaching large numbers of people really, in order to recruit them as agents. this film, shot as it happened, shows victor — the soviet diplomat — collecting intelligence materialfrom a dead letter box, after an elaborate series of instructions. well, relations between the west and the east were not good at the time. there was still, underneath, quite a lot of mistrust and suspicion as to what the soviets were up to. and, of course, that spilled over in this spy affair. the whole thing was obviously brought forward by the defection at the beginning of august of a senior kgb official, now named as oleg lyalin.

his information made it plain that something had to be done. the important thing about oleg lyalin, the defector, was that he dotted the is and crossed the ts, and so we realised that there were even more soviet intelligence officers masquerading as diplomats than we'd previously thought. and he gave us a pretty good idea of the scope of their activities, which was very large. the reason these men had to go was simply that their organisation had outgrown the resources of our organisation, whose job it was to deal with them. the russians were given two weeks to leave when the expulsions were announced on september 24th. today's sailing means that they've gone almost a week early. looking back on it from today's perspective, i very much think that it was the best thing to do, because respect for us from the soviet side went up, i think. although they didn't like it,

but it certainly went up. they dealt with us more seriously after that, they took us more seriously. george walden. now a devastating story about a town that was effectively wiped out by asbestos. wittenoom, in western australia, grew up around an asbestos mine in the 1940s, but little did the residents know at the time that asbestos was lethal and could cause lung diseases and cancer. bronwen duke lived in the town as a child and is one of the few members of her family who is still alive. people were warned, but they didn't take it seriously until people started to die. i lost both parents, both grandparents, my brother, three uncles, about four cousins that i can think of — and that's just the immediate family, in my world. i was born in 1958, in the far north

of western australia, in the pilbara, in a little town called wittenoom. the blue asbestos mine was the genesis of the town. asbestos is a naturalfibre that's encased in rocks. they would extract the asbestos out of the mine and the mill would actually then bag it and ready for shipment. it was sent to places around the world for the various things that they use asbestos for. fire—resisting, sound—insulating product known as asbestos is a piece of rock. the practical uses of asbestos are very numerous. at least 18,000 articles are made of it, ranging from packing for steam engines and linings for friction services to bulkheads for aeroplanes. there were a lot of immigrants that came into australia after the second world war and a lot of them were just looking forjobs, and there were jobs to be had in wittenoom.

my dad was one of them. he was the jack of all trades. he used to drive the bus to take the guys from town to the mine every day. my mum and her sisters all met their husbands up there. it had all the elements of a normal country town. they used to have race days and there would be balls, and all sorts of social activities that everyone was involved in. but my parents weren't aware of the dangers at all. i don't think a lot of the people in the town were aware of the dangers. asbestos fibres get into the lungs and those fibres can cause asbestosis or mesothelioma. it encases the lung in cancer and prevents it from breathing. in wittenoom, the asbestos wasn't confined to the mine. asbestos was used in gardens, it was used on driveways,

it was used on the roads. it was literally everywhere. and if you went out to play, as all small children do, you're playing in asbestos. one of the flying doctors flew into town and said, as soon as he got there, he said, we have to close this, this has to stop. well, the mine was very profitable, so it was decided that that wasn't the case. it was 1966 before they actually closed the mines. but people had started to die. we left when my dad got sick. we now know, in actualfact, that he had asbestosis at that time. it's almost like having an asthma attack, where you can't breathe and you're fighting to catch your breath. my mum and my brother died from mesothelioma. it is a extremely harrowing disease, to see someone dying from mesothelioma. there's just hundreds of people from wittenoom that i know of that have gone with mesothelioma or asbestosis.

none of my family that's in that photo are alive. they're all gone, every one of them. there's no compensation for taking away your parents or your family. there's no justice in that at all. nothing. money doesn't bring them back. money doesn't compensate for their death, or what you miss. bronwen duke, on the tragedy of wittenoom. next, we're off to israel and the story of uzi even, a former israeli intelligence colonel. it was uzi who, in the 1990s, led the battle for equal rights for gay and lesbian soldiers in israel's military. ijoined the military and i served in the formal service and then as a reserve officer for almost 20 years. i was up to the level of colonel in intelligence. the law at the time was that if you are known to be gay,

you cannot have access to classified information, because of the belief that they were prone to extortion. the atmosphere in israel was such that you didn't talk about gays, like something to be ashamed of. i had to live like that, in the shadows. it's not a pleasant way of living. being in the closet is very difficult. in 1982, in a standard security clearance check, people came here and asked about how i lived here. at the time, i had a lover with me, living together. and that was enough to cause an avalanche of events that ended in my being demoted to a low—ranking clerical position.

no reasons were given. it was like a slap in the face. until i decided, it's time to fight back. in 1993, yael dayan, who was a member of parliament, decided to organise the first debate in the knesset about gay issues. and i was the main speaker, and i was very apprehensive. i didn't know how people would react. up to that time, no single gay person of high social ranking would come out and say, i am gay, look. the main message of my speech was that — we want to be the same as you. we don't demand anything that you don't have. we want to be allowed to contribute in the military and other

parts of this society. i was called to the prime minister's office, yitzhak rabin. they asked me, what do you want? i said, i want that what happened to me will not happen again. so we started negotiating with the military experts, and we took a very short time because three months after i started my campaign, the law was signed by the chief of staff of the israeli military. the new law starts with the words, the israeli defence forces do not discriminate gays in their recruitment, in their placement, or in their ranks. it was quite revolutionary. in 2004, i was the first openly gay member of parliament to be elected, which created a lot of uproar. nowadays, i live openly as a public figure, if you want.

i have a husband, who is with me. i have an adopted son, who is also gay. everybody around me knows i'm gay, so i feel at peace with my environment. was it worth it? for me, yes. the pioneering uzi even. remember, you can watch witness every month on the bbc news channel, or you can catch up on all our films — along with more than a thousand radio programmes — in our online archive. now we head to new york. after the 9—11 terror attacks, the city was left with a gaping hole in its skyline where the world trade center once stood. in 2006, reconstruction work began. tj gottesdiener was one of the architects who designed a new skyscraper for the site.

most of the people around simply can't understand what happened. people are just standing around, talking at each other, nodding their heads. screaming. oh, my god! we've got to go! oh, my god! 0n the day of 9—11, i was actually not in new york, i was in hong kong. i'd gone there for a client meeting. it was evening when the news broke. over here! get here, get here! don't go in that building. come here, come here.... screaming. this is incredible. i've never seen anything like this. it was very, very unsettling for us. a lot of concern about the people, what was happening, the office — which is right next to the site, my family. it was, uh...

it was a day i regret not being in new york. it was a tragic scene. there was a lot of recovery necessary at this site. we felt challenged. at the heart of manhattan, there's still a huge gap, to be filled by one of nine competing designs, offered by a who's who of global architecture. larry silverstein won the rights to be the landlord of the site. he called us up and said, please come over, i want your help. my role was kind of acting as the organiser, leader, putting the team together, dealing with architects, engineers, clients, contractors. one of the most important things that we wanted to do was to repair the hole in the sky, the tear in the sky.

what do i mean by that? new york city is known for its skyscrapers. it's known for the empire state building. the chrysler building. and it was known for the twin towers. the trade center. and that was gone. and people realised that lower manhattan looked differently without it. the original design of the trade center was a square — 200 feet by 200 feet in plan — and that's the footprint of the new design. the original trade center rose to a height of 1,363 feet above grade. and that's the height of the design of one world trade center at the parapet, at the glass and metal parapet. as the project was completed, and even today, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. i think that we've really

done a fantasticjob of making it, the building, feel very approachable. very democratic, almost. it's got these light glass fins on it. in evening, it glows with the light emanating from inside of it. you feel like you can go right up to it and want to be next to it and want to almost touch it. this is a project that i never leave behind. i come to work, get out of the subway and i can see the building. i look out the window here and i can see the building. it never leaves me. the new york architect tj gottesdiener. and finally, an unusual story about the world cup. back in 1966, england were hosting the tournament, but shortly before the event was due to begin, the world cup trophy itself was stolen — from a display in central london. remarkably, it was one man

and his dog who came to the rescue. we were told when the cup went in here that the most stringent security precautions were being taken to protect it. today, somehow, they failed. it was top news. and in the morning, the papers, it was headlines, "world cup stolen". and then some critics saying the best police force in the world had lost the cup. we found out that the security was very sparse. there was one 70—odd—year—old guard looking after it and he had gone to his dinner break. i'm afraid i regret at this present moment, i am unable to make any real form of statement. i must ask you to appreciate the amount of pressure that i have been under. once i have had a chance to gather my somewhat scattered wits, then i will indeed talk with you and give you everything

that i can possibly can. but the general feeling that people had — that the police weren't going to find this cup. i took my dog, pickles, out for a walk and he scooted round the front of the house and he went over to the front of my neighbour's car. and he was sniffing around, so i walked over to put the lead on him and i noticed there was a package on the floor, wrapped in newspaper. very tightly bound with string all the way up. so curiosity, obviously, i bent down, picked it up, and i tore a bit of the newspaper off and i saw brazil, west germany. i thought... being a football fan and all the publicity going on about the cup, my heart started thumping — bang! — against my chest. it's the world cup! i thought, i'll take it up

to the police station. ijumped in the car. i've got these slacks on and a top and these slippers. i can remember pushing the doors open and going straight through, and there's a sergeant standing behind the big polished desk and i say to him, i think i've found the world cup. and his boss comes and he says, right, take him up to scotland yard. then suddenly, it dawns on me that i am number—one suspect. after a couple of days, the police come down and question me again. after that, it stopped and now i became a witness when the prosecution was brought against the guys that stole it. it's all a bit bewildering for pickles, but for the suddenly world—famous pooch, there's more glamour to follow. the national sporting club honoured the stolen trophy finders, david corbett and pickles. henry cooper uncovered a special treat for pickles, but it's turkey or nothing these days. the champ had something to impress

david corbett, though — a cheque for £1,000, presented by the club to pickles and his owner. after the game, when we had won the cup, we were invited to the reception in london. and we drove up to the hotel. the road was completely blocked with people and it had a sort of big balcony out the side and the team were up there. we went up with them and bobby moore picked him up and showed him to the crowd. waaay! it was really, really exciting for me. i think it was really exciting for the whole country. it was through pickles that my life changed. and he helped me buy this house. and he is buried out in my garden, and on nice summer nights, i go out there with a nice glass of wine and have a little talk to him. cheers, thanks, pics. the remarkable story

of dave corbett and pickles, an unlikely world cup hero. and that's all from witness this month, here at the british library. we'll be back next month with more first—hand accounts of extraordinary moments in history. but for now, from me and the rest of the witness team, bye—bye. we did not quite make it for six daysin we did not quite make it for six days in a row with 30 degrees heat but we were not far away. tomorrow there might be more cloud in more areas, but the many able be hot and sunny, but chance of a few showers. maybe thunderstorms. the main chance of catching those is on the area cloud around a study rotating area of low pressure which is pushing cloud further north to the of the uk. but we are still drawing in very warm if not hot air and more humidity for some parts of the uk with the wind from the south—east. at the moment very little wind at all, clear skies, short lived missed

and low cloud patches developing, mainly across central scotland and north east england, and a band of cloud approaching the far north—west and maybe the science of a few early showers towards the isles of scilly which could drift towards the channel islands and the south coast of england, but at the same time we have a band of cloud threatening to bring rain towards the far north of scotland, buffer large parts of the uk sunday be another dry and sunny day. temperatures in northern ireland and scotland in the mid—20s, england and wales, high 20s, possibly 31 around london and the north of london. focusing on the showers, they threatened to bring very heavy and thundery downpours but they will be hit and miss and later we might have showers heading all the way to parts of sussex and surrey but the greatest threat is towards the south west. that remains the case overnight as we head into monday, any remaining showers will very quickly fade away, drifting to

the south—east and out of the way, and building pressure coming in across the north, so again as you are, across the north, so again as you a re, lots of across the north, so again as you are, lots of dry weather and the sunshine, hardly a cloud in the sky, the threat of showers in the far north west of scotland and also towards the channel islands but the detail proving elusive. 30 degrees around london and to the north of london, and as we look ahead to the first week ofjuly we will find very little change in the weather, dominated by high—pressure, dry and sunny, but the chance of a few storms. this is bbc world news today. our top stories... hundreds of marches take place across the united states in protest at president trump's immigration policies. the european union remains split on migrants, with hungary denying signing up to a deal with germany to take back asylum seekers. forging a new future for steel in europe — thyssenkrupp and tata weld themselves together. and uruguay has beaten portugal 2—1 in the knockout phase

at the football world cup. hello and welcome to world news today. thousands of protesters in the united states are marching across the country against president trump's