10/08/2017 BBC News at One

North Korea accuses Donald Trump of being bereft of reason after his

The regime says only absolute force can work on the US President as it

says it may fire four rockets towards the American

We'll be live from Guam in the western Pacific as we assess

Also this lunchtime: The latest NHS figures are released.

Waiting lists hit a ten-year high in England.

Other key targets, including urgent referral for cancer care,

After 18 people are convicted of abusing girls in Newcastle,

the former Director of Public Prosecutions says treat

Modern slavery and human trafficking is said to be far more prevalent

than previously thought, as the National Crime Agency reveals

there are tens of thousands of potential victims.

A second chance for gold - Botswanan athlete Isaac Makwala

will run in tonight's final of the World Athletics 200m

after running his heat alone, against the clock.

And coming up in the sport on BBC News: One major away

from a career grand slam, but Jordan Spieth insists he's not

feeling the pressure ahead of the USPGA Championship in North

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

North Korea has accused Donald Trump of being 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

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

Our correspondent Yogita Limaye reports.

One more fierce message on North Korea's state TV.

This time, it's 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

It's home to tens of thousands of people.

Obviously for me, because I'm a father, it's really concerning.

I wish it didn't have to come to that.

I'm pretty confident that the US will protect us.

But in the war of words with North Korea, America's president

He boasted of his country's nuclear arsenal, matching the aggression

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 more justification to keep

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.

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

One country that's hoping to defuse this crisis soon is South Korea.

It's seen this kind of situation many times before, and while it's

working closely with the US to ramp up its defence programme,

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

No evidence here to suggest that things are going to cool down.

We can go live now to the Western Pacific

Our correspondent Rupert Wingfield Hayes is there.

Rupert, South Korea appealing for calm and yet no sign of it.

What's the view from those living in Guam?

Well, there are very mixed feelings here. We have been talking to locals

and tourists here today out on the beach is enjoying themselves. This

is peak season in Guam and there are tens of thousands of tourists from

Asia. The locals are fairly calm. They told us they have experienced

these threats before and they are upset and angry and do not like

being threatened like this, but they are confident in the US military.

They have anti-missile systems based on the island, so if North Korea did

fire at the islands, it has defences. But we had a different

message from Japanese tourists, many of whom are here with families. They

said they are nervous and friends and family in Japan have been

sending their messages asking them if they are OK. So there is

nervousness and tourists are starting to think about whether this

starting to think about whether this place is safe.

The number of people waiting for routine surgery in England

in June was the highest since December 2007.

NHS England said 3.83 million patients were

Other key targets were also missed, including urgent

I'm joined by our Health Editor, Hugh Pym.

This figure is an important gauge of how the NHS is performing. Waiting

lists for routine operations and surgery. 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

of June. NHS England says it could be even 4 million because not all

hospitals reported their figures. What about the key target of waiting

18 weeks and no more for a routine operation? In June the percentage

that was seeing was 90.3%. For cancer treatment, another very

important target for the NHS, 80.5% of people were waiting after an

urgent referral to be seen within 62 days. That is the target there.

Obviously a lot more were not in terms of the number above that. They

have missed the target of 85%. Can you put that into context in terms

of the background of these figures? It demonstrates the pressures on the

NHS. Key targets have been missed all year, and target in A as well.

It shows the stresses and strains on the NHS, dealing with more patients

every year and 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 treatment.

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

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 14 years old.

The victims were mostly white, the attackers mainly

British men from Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi heritage.

It's a story we've heard time and again,

Oxford, Rochdale, Cardiff to name a few.

Today, one former leading prosecutor condemned what he said had been

a reluctance to investigate Asian gangs who target vulnerable

white girls, and that a big change was needed.

I think some recognition that this is a problem in all communities

and across communities, and recognising it for what it is,

not pretending it's something else, recognising it for what it is,

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.

In the light of these latest Newcastle cases,

there are now calls for an inquiry into why groups of men

Some warn against stigmatising whole Asian communities.

Others insist that the problem needs to be tackled head-on.

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.

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

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

But these offenders in Newcastle, at least, are now facing

Modern slavery and human trafficking are far more widespread in the UK

than previously thought according to the National Crime Agency.

It says there are currently more than 300 policing operations ongoing

with cases affecting every large town and city in the country,

many involving the sale of very young girls.

Our home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani is here.

The figures make for disturbing reading, Dominic.

It is one of the stories of crime in the modern world if you think about

it. There have been six months of intensive operations from the

National Crime Agency coordinating red across the country with global

police forces and international partners. The more it has looked,

the more it has found. Before today we had an estimate of about 10,000 -

13,000 hidden victims across the UK. But it says it is the tip of the

iceberg, it cannot count how many are out there. One third of known

victims are British, but people from all sorts of nationalities in the UK

are being forced to work across Great Britain against their will.

Each of them is most likely today to come across somebody. The director

of vulnerabilities says he is directed by what he has found. We

have seen people being moved across and into the country for the

purposes of being exploited and there was a case of a 12-year-old

girl for labour exploitation. We are seeing people as young as 13 and 14

being sexually exploited and being engaged in prostitution. This is a

growing problem to which we think there is a shared responsibility

across society in the United Kingdom to be addressed. The NCA said it has

stepped up efforts and is coordinating more operations, but

there have been questions as to whether this is too little too late.

The official anti-slavery commissioner raised questions last

night about the amount of effort that has been put into the problem

recently, saying too much intelligence has been lying dormant

on databases and not acted upon. The NCA in its defence has said there

has been a sea change in operational activity, but it says it needs to

hear from the public and once the warning signs at their people who

may be victims of this appalling crime.

The United States has expelled two Cuban diplomats amid suggestions

that mysterious technology was used to damage the hearing of US

US State Department officials believe covert sonic devices may

Cuba says it's investigating the claims.

Our correspondent Tom Burridge reports.

It was a moment when Cuba and America's relationship changed.

For decades, they were enemies, but the opening of America's embassy

in Havana two years ago set this island and its neighbouring

superpower on a new path, with some trade and travel

Now, news about bizarre events in that very building.

It's emerged that several US diplomats had to leave Cuba last

They had apparently suffered severe hearing loss.

One theory is that the diplomats were subjected to a device

which gave off low or high frequency sound which is inaudible

to the human ear - and that caused the damage.

The US State Department has given few concrete details.

They've reported some incidents, which have caused a variety

I'm not going to be able to give you a tonne of information

about this today, but I'll tell you what we do have

We don't have any definitive answers about the source or the cause

Since 2016 you don't know what this incident is?

What this requires is providing medical

Initially when they started reporting what I will just call

symptoms, it took time to figure out what it was, and this

But despite the uncertainty America expelled two Cuban diplomats

Via state television, the government categorically

denied any foul play against the US embassy.

Cuba said it was carrying out its own thorough investigation

and called on America to share information.

America is not overtly blaming Cuba, probably because so much

is still unclear, and the relatively constructive reaction from officials

in Havana at least shows how much the dynamic between these two

North Korea accuses Donald Trump of being bereft of reason

after his "fire and fury" nuclear threat - and says it

may fire four rockets towards the American

Coming up, I'm at the World Athletics Championships, where the

amazing story of one Botswana sprinter has captivated the world.

Coming up in sport: The English FA are planning to enter a British

women's team into the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, even if they

don't have the support of the other home nations -

who the FA say won't stand in their way.

More than 9000 people currently sleep on the streets -

and the number of people sleeping rough across England,

Scotland and Wales could jump by three-quarters

That's the warning from the homeless charity Crisis, which says

homelessness has increased significantly in the past five years

and will continue to do so unless long-term action is taken

Our correspondent Sima Kotecha reports.

Not having a place to call home - a reality for thousands,

a problem expected to get a lot worse.

Meet Alan, a former courier, now homeless.

That's why people drink a lot and are on drugs.

I don't blame them, because they can't live.

It's not difficult to find people like this here

in Leicester city centre, who tell us they have no choice

This man says he's been homeless for more than ten weeks and believes

that the main driver for homelessness is drugs

According to today's report, almost 160,000 households

were experiencing the worst form of homelessness in 2016.

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

Ministers say they are investing more than ?500 million

into solving the problem, and that building more affordable

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

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.

What exactly are surveyors saying? It's often been the case there's

been this ripple effect, when prices have either gone down or up in

London, then that spreads across the United Kingdom. They seem to be

pointing to something like this happening at the moment. London

prices, they say, have stalled. That's not yet reflected in the

official registers, but surveyors have a more up-to-date view of

what's going on, and so London is stalling the last three months they

are saying other areas too, the south-east. The north, not the

north-west, but the North, and East Anglia. Against that, there are some

areas as well that are still going up quite strongly and amongst those

are Northern Ireland, West Midlands, south-west of England and Scotland

as well. So there are some reservations about this. One is that

prices have gone so high in London they are simply out of reach for

many people. That's not the same as the rest of the country. Also, if

there is an effect from Brexit uncertainty, I think people

generally think that's more marked in London and elsewhere. Any

predictions in terms of what could happen in the longer term? That's

the interesting thing about this surveyors' report because it's not

the exact data about house prices after the event, they are

forward-looking, what's happening to the house market. They are expecting

a similar effect over the next couple of months of stalling and

rippling out, but they've moderated their view over the next five years.

They are expecting increases still put of about 2.7% a year over the

next five years and that's the lowest that they've expected in the

history of doing this survey. So real moderation of their view of

what's happening to the housing market.

A widow has spoken of her "shock and horror", after a private GP -

who treated her late husband - admitted failings in the case.

Dr Peter Wheeler, who was Princess Diana's doctor,

has acknowledged he failed to properly monitor his

patient, by not arranging the recommended blood tests.

Our health correspondent, Jane Dreaper, has the details.

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

It was an insidious build-up of health problems, as a result

of the drip drip drip of each one of these prescriptions over

It's heartbreaking enough to lose your partner of 45 years,

but the complete shock and horror when we found out that it had

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

Private health care does have certain advantages over the NHS.

It's more convenient, generally, and it's more comfortable,

Dr Wheeler states in legal papers that Mr Vavalidis would still have

died from liver failure because of his diabetes and obesity.

The doctor is under investigation by the General Medical Council.

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims have announced that they are to sue

Next week will mark 19 years since the bombing by the Real IRA

Families of the victims have issued a writ against

It focuses on what happened afterwards and why no-one has been

successfully convicted in a criminal court.

A man who used a "quick sale" firm to sell his home claims he received

less than half of what the property was actually sold for.

Quick sale companies offer to buy your house quickly,

But Phillip Edwards says that when he sold his three bedroom house

in Hawarden in Flintshire, he received just ?68,000

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,

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?

Phillip Edwards sold his house through an organisation

called Speedy Property, after seeing a notice

It had belonged to his late parents and was the family

Mr Edwards expected to receive around ?100,000 for the sale

He was selling the house because he owed around ?60,000 to his ex-wife.

He wasn't clear how much the firm would deduct from 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.

It's as if everything that my parents worked for,

and what I've worked for, you know, and at the end

It appears to be a large scale operation and West Midlands Police

have confirmed that they are investigating a number

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

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,

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

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.

Mr Edwards is now hoping that the police and civil

investigation will see justice done, but some of the other clients

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

So the number of people affected may be much higher.

The Botswanan athlete, Isaac Makwala, has qualified

for the final of the World Athletics 200 metres - after running his heat

He was unable to take part in the heats on Monday night,

because the athletics authorities said he had the norovirus.

Our sports correspondent Natalie Pirks is at

It's been nothing if not eventful. More drama no doubt to come? Well,

the curious tale of Isaac Makwala really has captured the public's

imagination. On Monday was despondent at what he called

sabotage, but tonight he could have a gold medal in the 200 metres

final. It would be an astonishing turnaround in a World Championship

that's already seen its fair share of shocks.

One 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

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,

COMMENTATOR: I think that is a message to the IAAF to say

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

What a performance from Isaac Makwala!

I wish to thank the IAAF for giving me another chance.

They gave me belief, the British crowd.

Tonight, he will face the likes of Van Niekerk,

and Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who also qualified

Those 200 metres that he performed last night were just staggering,

in horrendous conditions, it was cold, the rain was relentless.

And he's one of the favourites for the 200 metres as well,

What began with sickness and despair

could end with a World Championship medal.

Well, what else is around today? Britain's team captain Eilidh Doyle

will run in the 400 metres final. Katarina Johnson-Thompson is in the

heat of Hyderabad Laura Muir will hope to put the fourth place in the

1500 metres behind her in the heats of the 5000 metres. The Makwala

final tonight, all eyes will be on the triple jumper Christian Taylor,

especially those of Britain's Jonathan Edwards. Could his 27 year

world record be about to go? Taylor has come very close indeed. Natalie

Pirks, thank you. Better than yesterday, yesterday we

were on the verge of gathering the animals two by two on to no dark. In

the last 24 hours, it's been the most important thing it's been and

gone, because that's the cloud from yesterday. Today, almost gone. We

still have the remnants of yesterday's bad weather. We even had

a thunderstorm earlier on in Kent and still one or two showers around,

but for most of us today it's looking absolutely fine. A lovely

picture here from Leicestershire, scattered Fairweather cumulus

clouds. Here's a nice positive spin on the weather on Thursday, sunshine

for most of us. That's because these are little area of high pressure is

nosing into the UK, it will not last long, but today, is giving some of

that fine weather. The temperatures are probably a bit below. It's a

cool air mass coming in from the North Atlantic, so temperatures

typically in the teens. These are the pesky showers in the south-east.

You might catch a downpour. But for most of the country there is not an

awful lot to say. It's just a fine day. Notice that the clouds are

gathering and a bit of rain just of the North of our neighbourhood, this

is the next area of cloud and rain that will be approaching us and

winds will be freshening from the south-west. That will be reaching

Northern Ireland and West of Scotland tonight, but probably not

until around midnight. The rest of the UK tonight, so England under

way, is in for a dry night, around 12-13d. I mentioned the

high-pressure is only a cameo appearance because by the time we

get to Friday it's out of the way. Here's the next area of cloud and

rain that sweeping into the UK. Windy in the north-west around the

Western Isles, even gale force winds. Tomorrow, this time tomorrow,

it will start to cloud over, dribs and drabs of rain. Notice the East

Anglia and the south-east getting away with it, so tomorrow should be

mostly dry. Then Friday night into Saturday, that weather front pushes

through. It's in France and Germany and behind it we get another cameo

area of high pressure, briefly visiting us. But just in time for

the weekend, so mother nature is going to be kind this weekend. There

might be one or two little pesky showers across northern areas, but

on balance, it's fine. Again, the temperature is not quite where they

should be. We are talking about 17-18s, more of its September

temperature and we are statistically one of the hottest times of year.

Maybe reaching 21 in London, 16 in Glasgow, but the weekend is looking

fine. On BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.