:00:09. > :00:10.This is BBC World News Today. I'm Philippa Thomas.
:00:11. > :00:13.the British authorities say the scale of modern slavery
:00:14. > :00:16.in the country is far larger than previously thought,
:00:17. > :00:18.with tens of thousands of victims spread across
:00:19. > :00:24.Its horrible, I tell you, it's just horrible...
:00:25. > :00:31.Even now I just feel like, my heart starts beating a little bit.
:00:32. > :00:36.it's ready to launch missiles towards the pacific island of Guam,
:00:37. > :00:45.where America has a massive military presence
:00:46. > :00:47.Britain's Food Standards Agency says 700,000 eggs contaminated
:00:48. > :00:50.Bridging the generations - the veteran playwright
:00:51. > :01:06.Alan Ayckbourn turns to science fiction to reach a new audience.
:01:07. > :01:09.Hello, and welcome to World News Today.
:01:10. > :01:12.Authorities in Britain say modern-day slavery and human
:01:13. > :01:14.trafficking is now so prevalent in the country that there
:01:15. > :01:20.are cases is almost every large town and city,
:01:21. > :01:22.with ordinary Britons unwittingly coming into contact
:01:23. > :01:27.There are likely to be tens of thousands of them,
:01:28. > :01:30.according to the UK's National Crime Agency.
:01:31. > :01:32.More than 300 police operations are currently targeting
:01:33. > :01:39.And in just two months, this year there have been 111 arrests.
:01:40. > :01:47.Here's our social affairs correspondent, Dominic Casciani.
:01:48. > :01:48.Another day, another anti-slavery operation.
:01:49. > :01:53.Over the last six months, the National Crime Agency has
:01:54. > :01:56.coordinated operations to smash trafficking and slavery gangs.
:01:57. > :01:58.This suspected brothel, run in the north-east of England,
:01:59. > :02:04.Today, a new analysis from the agency suggests
:02:05. > :02:06.the true scale of modern slavery is far greater
:02:07. > :02:12.Aurel from Romania was coerced into hard labour.
:02:13. > :02:19.A gang controlled his life for four months until he got out.
:02:20. > :02:21.It's just horrible, I tell you, it's just horrible.
:02:22. > :02:26.Even now, I just feel like my heart is start beating a little bit.
:02:27. > :02:32.Modern-day slaves are tricked into the UK by gangs promising a
:02:33. > :02:40.better life, and coerced into work they can't escape from.
:02:41. > :02:43.Women forced into prostitution make up to ?600 a day.
:02:44. > :02:45.Men are trapped in gruelling work in food processing or agriculture,
:02:46. > :02:49.and victims are on the high street in nail bars and car washes.
:02:50. > :02:51.You are more likely than ever before to unwittingly
:02:52. > :03:00.run by workers under the control of a gang.
:03:01. > :03:02.It's impossible to count all the victims, because,
:03:03. > :03:06.like this enterprise, they are hidden from view.
:03:07. > :03:10.But investigators say the more they look, the more they find.
:03:11. > :03:13.We have also seen people as young as 13 and 14 being sexually
:03:14. > :03:16.exploited and forced to engage in prostitution.
:03:17. > :03:21.This is a growing problem, for which we think there's a shared
:03:22. > :03:25.responsibility across society in the United Kingdom to address.
:03:26. > :03:29.Some critics say the NCA has been too slow off the mark,
:03:30. > :03:34.It says there has been a surge in the police response.
:03:35. > :03:37.Charities investigating the abuses say there are obvious signs that
:03:38. > :03:40.someone is being held against their will.
:03:41. > :03:45.They are forced to work against their will.
:03:46. > :03:49.The trafficker controls their finances, controls their movement.
:03:50. > :03:53.In the small villages, there are few jobs and no money...
:03:54. > :03:56.A new online campaign from the National Crime Agency.
:03:57. > :04:00.It's pledging to carry on raids month after month, but investigators
:04:01. > :04:02.say they will still need the public's help
:04:03. > :04:12.Earlier, I spoke with the anti-slavery campaigner
:04:13. > :04:15.and human rights barrister, Cherie Blair, who through her work
:04:16. > :04:17.as the chair of the law firm Omnia Strategy, advises companies
:04:18. > :04:21.on complying with the Modern Slavery Act.
:04:22. > :04:26.Well, it's surprising, actually, where these people can turn up.
:04:27. > :04:28.It could be the people who are picking
:04:29. > :04:33.strawberries in the fields, if you are in a rural area.
:04:34. > :04:36.It could be the girl who is doing your nails in the nail bar
:04:37. > :04:38.who doesn't speak very good English, and seems very shy
:04:39. > :04:46.It could be the guy washing your car in one of these
:04:47. > :04:52.So these are the sort of places, and of course,
:04:53. > :04:56.the sex industry is an industry where the are very many such people.
:04:57. > :04:58.But it is not just actually about people
:04:59. > :05:04.It is also about the kind of goods that we buy, and where they
:05:05. > :05:08.It might seem strange to some of our viewers that
:05:09. > :05:10.we are talking about the United Kingdom,
:05:11. > :05:12.a developed country, sees itself as progressive,
:05:13. > :05:15.and yet this problem, it still seems, is pretty pervasive.
:05:16. > :05:18.Well, I think, as long as there is one person in slavery,
:05:19. > :05:21.then that is a problem, and the statistics say
:05:22. > :05:26.that they estimate about 13,000 people in slavery here
:05:27. > :05:29.in the UK, and of course, today, the NCA, who said that the problem
:05:30. > :05:33.That is the National Crime Agency, saying
:05:34. > :05:37.Much bigger than they had anticipated.
:05:38. > :05:42.In 2015, we passed the Modern Slavery Act.
:05:43. > :05:44.In that first year, the number of prosecutions for
:05:45. > :05:51.The following year, 2016, it had gone up,
:05:52. > :05:56.This year, we have had this report saying
:05:57. > :06:00.that the police are actively looking into over 300 cases.
:06:01. > :06:02.So, are you satisfied that there are the tools
:06:03. > :06:05.to prosecute and to bring people to justice?
:06:06. > :06:07.That there are the tools to prosecute, definitely.
:06:08. > :06:09.We do now have an array of offences, and we
:06:10. > :06:13.have seen people in the UK be prosecuted.
:06:14. > :06:16.One of the first prosecutions, for example, was a
:06:17. > :06:20.couple from Nigeria who had brought with them a domestic servant,
:06:21. > :06:24.beat her, didn't let her go out, worked her all the hours of the day,
:06:25. > :06:28.and they were prosecuted successfully for
:06:29. > :06:31.offences of slavery so, that is one example for sure,
:06:32. > :06:38.Whether we have the resources and the knowledge to
:06:39. > :06:40.actually identify people who are living in slavery is another
:06:41. > :06:45.question, and that is, I think, what the report
:06:46. > :06:48.today was highlighting, that it is a bigger problem than the
:06:49. > :06:50.police imagined, and they are going to need to devote
:06:51. > :06:57.And you're talking about specialist resources there, because
:06:58. > :06:59.by definition, these people often don't speak English,
:07:00. > :07:08.It is very hard to get to them, to find them in the first place.
:07:09. > :07:10.Very much so, but, you know, in today's interconnected world,
:07:11. > :07:13.though, it is very hard to keep someone in complete isolation,
:07:14. > :07:16.Very much so, but, you know, in today's interconnected world,
:07:17. > :07:18.though, it is very hard to keep someone in complete isolation,
:07:19. > :07:23.Neighbours seeing strange activities in the street,
:07:24. > :07:26.customers going to the nail bar and noticing that the girls are
:07:27. > :07:28.very subdued, can't speak English very well, seem to be
:07:29. > :07:33.Maybe just asking a little bit more about where these people
:07:34. > :07:38.have come from, and where do they go home to tonight?
:07:39. > :07:41.So, Cherie Blair, are you saying to your fellow Britons,
:07:42. > :07:44.don't be too complacent about the situation in which other
:07:45. > :07:48.people find themselves, their working environment,
:07:49. > :07:51.they could be witnessing modern-day slavery?
:07:52. > :07:56.I think sometimes, as Brits, we do not like
:07:57. > :08:00.to be too nosy and prying into other people's business, but in this case,
:08:01. > :08:19.Just when you thought the war of words between North Korea
:08:20. > :08:21.and America could not get any more heated,
:08:22. > :08:23.Pyonyang has just pushed it up another notch.
:08:24. > :08:25.A statement from the dictatorship says it has a plan to launch
:08:26. > :08:28.missiles into the sea around the US pacific island territory of Guam.
:08:29. > :08:30.Washington has threatened a devastating response.
:08:31. > :08:31.From Guam, Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports.
:08:32. > :08:36.It may not look like it, but there is trouble in paradise.
:08:37. > :08:39.This little Pacific holiday island is now the
:08:40. > :08:45.focus of unwanted worldwide attention.
:08:46. > :08:48.from North Korea today, this strangely
:08:49. > :08:53.TRANSLATION: The Hwasong-12 rocket will be launched
:08:54. > :08:58.by the Korean People's Army and will cross the sky above Japan,
:08:59. > :09:04.flying 3,356 kilometres for 1,065 seconds before hitting
:09:05. > :09:12.the waters 30 to 40 kilometres away from Guam.
:09:13. > :09:16.This is the Hwasong-12 missile, on parade in Pyongyang this spring.
:09:17. > :09:19.No-one should doubt it can reach Guam.
:09:20. > :09:21.In recent months, North Korea has successfully
:09:22. > :09:26.tested a host of long-range missiles.
:09:27. > :09:29.The little holiday island is now within the reach of Kim Jong-un.
:09:30. > :09:32.But at the volleyball court, the locals seem
:09:33. > :09:38.I think we are kind of used to the whole ebb and flow of hearing
:09:39. > :09:41.we're going to be bombed and it not happening and hearing
:09:42. > :09:44.It is not anything that is new to us.
:09:45. > :09:47.It never follows through, so I was not really concerned.
:09:48. > :09:51.I think it is probably like a distraction,
:09:52. > :09:55.maybe, a political kind of move on the side
:09:56. > :09:59.of US and Korea, just to get attention, maybe.
:10:00. > :10:01.If the aim of North Korea is to scare people,
:10:02. > :10:07.People are not fleeing the beaches for the airport.
:10:08. > :10:10.The threat against Guam is very specific.
:10:11. > :10:16.That has a few people worried that maybe, just
:10:17. > :10:19.maybe, Kim Jong-un is planning some sort of action to fire one or more
:10:20. > :10:21.missiles over Japan in this direction.
:10:22. > :10:24.Guam's two huge military bases are home to a
:10:25. > :10:32.It makes the island a very attractive target.
:10:33. > :10:35.The tourists, on whom this island depends, are already much more
:10:36. > :10:43.TRANSLATION: I saw the news and started to check where the US
:10:44. > :10:47.military bases on Guam are located. I am worried.
:10:48. > :10:49.Everyone here is hoping this latest threat is
:10:50. > :11:01.But they are also starting to wonder what they will do if it is not.
:11:02. > :11:03.It's feared that 19 more African migrants drowned near the coast
:11:04. > :11:07.of Yemen when people smugglers forced them off a boat.
:11:08. > :11:09.It's the second such incident in the area in two days.
:11:10. > :11:12.Yesterday 50 migrants perished after they were forced into the sea
:11:13. > :11:19.The victims, most of whom were teenagers, came from Ethiopia,
:11:20. > :11:31.They were headed to Yemen and were forced off the boat close
:11:32. > :11:38.From there they hoped to reach Saudi Arabia and the Emirates
:11:39. > :11:41.The International Organisation for Migration's Communication Director,
:11:42. > :11:52.His colleagues in Yemen were told by survivors what happened.
:11:53. > :11:55.These are two really tragic incidents that happened in Yemen
:11:56. > :11:57.in which we learnt from migrants, After coming across the bodies
:11:58. > :12:00.on the beach, we learned from the survivors that a smuggler
:12:01. > :12:02.appears to have been worried by the appearance
:12:03. > :12:04.of some authorities, some local authorities,
:12:05. > :12:08.and rather than be arrested himself, he appears to have forced the young
:12:09. > :12:12.men off the boat into the waters at a very dangerous time
:12:13. > :12:16.when the seas are quite rough, and of course, most of them cannot
:12:17. > :12:21.swim or have a very poor capacity for swimming.
:12:22. > :12:23.And indeed, we have seen really high numbers of deaths.
:12:24. > :12:26.51 in one incident reported yesterday, and then today, up to 19.
:12:27. > :12:29.We are fortunate in the sense that we came across,
:12:30. > :12:31.the staff came across the bodies buried on the beach,
:12:32. > :12:34.so we got to learn about it from the survivors, but it is very
:12:35. > :12:36.possible this is happening quite regularly.
:12:37. > :12:39.The smugglers have absolutely no scruples about the lives of those
:12:40. > :12:42.they are carrying with them, and indeed we know that many,
:12:43. > :12:45.when they do get ashore in Yemen, once again are exploited,
:12:46. > :12:47.held and detained, and calls are made to the families
:12:48. > :12:52.so they can extort even more money from them.
:12:53. > :12:55.Britain's Food Standards Agency says that some 700,000 imported eggs
:12:56. > :13:00.contaminated with a pesticide have entered the food chain in the UK.
:13:01. > :13:05.That's a massive increase over the original estimate of 21,000.
:13:06. > :13:08.Meanwhile, Dutch investigators have arrested two people after raids
:13:09. > :13:11.on companies in the Netherlands and Belgium linked to
:13:12. > :13:23.a European-wide egg scare. Emma Simpson reports.
:13:24. > :13:28.This Belgian farmer has had to destroy not just
:13:29. > :13:32.The produce is contaminated with an insecticide which is banned
:13:33. > :13:36.That is where it has ended up on a potentially
:13:37. > :13:42.TRANSLATION: You cannot put your eggs on the market for three months.
:13:43. > :13:45.And so I took the decision to kill the animals because it is really too
:13:46. > :14:00.The company which came to clean and treat the red
:14:01. > :14:02.lice with an organic product really used Fipranol.
:14:03. > :14:11.This farm is in the clear and millions of eggs have now been
:14:12. > :14:12.pulled from supermarket shelves on the continent.
:14:13. > :14:15.Fipranol may be popular for getting rid of fleas on
:14:16. > :14:18.pets, but it can be dangerous to humans.
:14:19. > :14:27.Here in the UK, we produce our own eggs but also import them
:14:28. > :14:29.And some of the eggs from affected farms
:14:30. > :14:37.We're not talking about fresh eggs we buy off supermarket shelves.
:14:38. > :14:39.The affected eggs went into processed foods like sandwich
:14:40. > :14:43.A few days ago the Food Standards Agency said
:14:44. > :14:55.Sounds a lot, but that is just .007% of all
:14:56. > :15:01.There is no reason why people should avoid
:15:02. > :15:06.Our assessment it is very unlikely it is a public health risk.
:15:07. > :15:09.People need to not have food which contains a substance that
:15:10. > :15:14.Four supermarkets of limited number of
:15:15. > :15:22.Four supermarkets are withdrawing of limited number of
:15:23. > :15:25.Others will already have been consumed.
:15:26. > :15:27.Yet another food scare, highlighting just how complex supply
:15:28. > :15:30.chains can be and how easily problems can spread.
:15:31. > :15:33.Now, it's a story we reported on earlier this week
:15:34. > :15:38.here on BBC World News, and that's made news around the world
:15:39. > :15:43.You will probably have seen the CCTV footage of a jogger seeming to knock
:15:44. > :15:45.a pedestrian into the path of a London bus.
:15:46. > :15:48.Well, police earlier said they'd arrested a man over the incident.
:15:49. > :15:55.The 33-year-old women only escaped serious injury thanks to the quick
:15:56. > :16:16.The suspect, aged 50, has been released pending further inquiries.
:16:17. > :16:18.It's a nail biting wait for the final result
:16:19. > :16:19.of Tuesday's Presidential elections in Kenya.
:16:20. > :16:22.Those released so far put appear to put the incumbent,
:16:23. > :16:23.Uhuru Kenyatta, ahead by a clear margin.
:16:24. > :16:25.But the opposition claims the electoral commissions computers
:16:26. > :16:28.were hacked to give Mr Uhuru that lead, and have urged
:16:29. > :16:31.to declare its leader, Raila Odinga, the winner.
:16:32. > :16:33.International observers say the polls were conducted in
:16:34. > :16:36.The BBC's Tomi Oladipo reports from Nairobi.
:16:37. > :16:38.The official result of Kenya's elections have not yet been
:16:39. > :16:42.announced, but the main opposition party says the tally is a fraud.
:16:43. > :16:46.We demand that the IEBC chairperson announce
:16:47. > :16:49.the presidential election results forthwith, and declare
:16:50. > :16:52.the Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga and his
:16:53. > :16:55.Excellency Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka as the duly elected
:16:56. > :16:58.president and deputy president of the Republic of Kenya,
:16:59. > :17:03.Early results indicate that its leader, Raila Odinga, is
:17:04. > :17:05.trailing his rival, President Uhuru Kenyatta,
:17:06. > :17:18.Now, the opposition say a source within
:17:19. > :17:21.the electoral authority has provided numbers to prove they won the vote.
:17:22. > :17:22.The opposition had earlier claimed the
:17:23. > :17:25.electoral database was hacked, and election results manipulated.
:17:26. > :17:27.The electoral authority admits there were
:17:28. > :17:29.unsuccessful hacking attempts, but insists the results were not
:17:30. > :17:37.Foreign observers also described the process as credible.
:17:38. > :17:40.We believe this system is accountable, so far, and at every
:17:41. > :17:43.step is followed, if somebody monkeyed with it, one will be able
:17:44. > :17:51.So trust in the process going forward, that is the key.
:17:52. > :17:54.On Tuesday, millions of Kenyans displayed that faith, and have been
:17:55. > :17:57.The opposition claims are likely to add
:17:58. > :18:04.Life in Kenya has been largely on hold since
:18:05. > :18:07.A political stalemate will only bring more of the
:18:08. > :18:09.uncertainty that Kenyans have been hoping to avoid.
:18:10. > :18:11.The Electoral Commission says it is still
:18:12. > :18:13.verifying the results as they come in.
:18:14. > :18:27.Official figures are not expected for at least another day.
:18:28. > :18:29.The United States has expelled two Cuban diplomats,
:18:30. > :18:31.amid suggestions that mysterious technology was used
:18:32. > :18:33.to damage the hearing of US embassy staff in Havana.
:18:34. > :18:35.US State Department officials believe covert sonic devices may
:18:36. > :18:41.Cuba says it's investigating the claims.
:18:42. > :18:43.For more on this mysterious story, the BBC's Will Grant
:18:44. > :19:16.In late 2016, several US embassy staff in Havana began to report
:19:17. > :19:19.headaches and loss of hearing. As things worsened, they returned to
:19:20. > :19:23.the United States for treatment. US officials in Cuba began to
:19:24. > :19:28.investigate. Some familiar with the case have suggested a sonic device
:19:29. > :19:41.was placed inside or outside the diplomats' homes.
:19:42. > :19:49.What this requires is providing medical examinations to these
:19:50. > :19:55.people, initially when they started reporting what I will call symptoms,
:19:56. > :20:00.it took time to figure out what it was, but this is ongoing. Two Cuban
:20:01. > :20:08.diplomats were asked to leave the country, but not formally declared
:20:09. > :20:11.persona non grata. TRANSLATION: For its part, the Cuban Government
:20:12. > :20:18.issued a lengthy statement on state television announcing the move as
:20:19. > :20:23.unsubstantiated. They also staunchly protected the record with
:20:24. > :20:28.international diplomats on the island. However, the incident comes
:20:29. > :20:36.after a recent downturn in relations. After President Obama
:20:37. > :20:43.improved ties with Cuba, President Strom has ruled this back. The idea
:20:44. > :20:49.of US diplomats losing the hearing is unlike that help mend ties. This
:20:50. > :20:51.latest twist in the long and convoluted relationship between the
:20:52. > :21:07.United States and Cuba is straight out a cold war
:21:08. > :21:13.spy novel both sides and we hope that an investigation will help them
:21:14. > :21:25.get to the most bizarre of incidents.
:21:26. > :21:40.Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, was a box office hit, and now
:21:41. > :21:44.there is a sequel. I was relieved the very next day when the entire
:21:45. > :21:48.rest of the world redoubled their commitments to the Paris agreement,
:21:49. > :21:52.and in the US, our largest states and hundreds of cities, and business
:21:53. > :21:55.leaders, said, we are still in the Paris agreement, and it now looks as
:21:56. > :22:00.though the US is great to meet our commitments in spite of Donald
:22:01. > :22:08.Trump. It is time to put America first. He has surrounded himself
:22:09. > :22:15.with a rogues gallery of climate change deniers controlled by the
:22:16. > :22:18.large polluters. This is well known. I had reason to believe that he
:22:19. > :22:23.might stay in the Paris agreement, but I think they control his
:22:24. > :22:26.thinking on this. The truth about the climate crisis is still
:22:27. > :22:31.inconvenient for these large polluters and the politicians who
:22:32. > :22:35.they control. The next generation would be justified in looking back
:22:36. > :22:38.at us and asking, what were you thinking? Could you not you what the
:22:39. > :22:42.scientists were saying? Could you not hear what mother nature was
:22:43. > :22:46.screaming? We are feeling the effects of this climate crisis now,
:22:47. > :22:51.we have had all-time record downpours here in the United Kingdom
:22:52. > :22:54.in the last couple of years. Just this week, there were record fires
:22:55. > :22:58.in high temperatures in southern Europe. You could go right around
:22:59. > :23:02.the world and every night on the TV news now, it is like a nature hike
:23:03. > :23:04.through the book of Revelation. Mother nature has joined this
:23:05. > :23:08.discussion, and she is getting the attention of a lot of people who may
:23:09. > :23:13.not see this as a political controversy. It is a question of the
:23:14. > :23:17.survival of our civilisation. But we do have the solutions.
:23:18. > :23:20.Sir Alan Ayckbourn is one of Britain's most successful
:23:21. > :23:22.playwrights, best known for his comic observations of
:23:23. > :23:25.Now, at the age of 78, he has written an
:23:26. > :23:27.epic drama called The Divide, which has its world premiere
:23:28. > :23:29.tomorrow at the Edinburgh International Festival.
:23:30. > :23:31.It's set in England 100 years from now -
:23:32. > :23:35.a deadly contagion has struck, leading to men and women
:23:36. > :23:37.being separated either side of a giant wall.
:23:38. > :23:40.The playwright spoke to our Arts Editor, Will Gompertz,
:23:41. > :23:42.and told him why he had chosen to enter the world
:23:43. > :23:52.It was, I think, an attempt by me to bridge my ageing writing
:23:53. > :23:56.personality to a younger generation, and the way to do that, I thought,
:23:57. > :24:06.was through the medium of science fiction.
:24:07. > :24:14.It gives you an even playing field, where you say to your younger
:24:15. > :24:17.audience, "Now this is a world that I don't know but I have
:24:18. > :24:23."created and you don't know, and you can inhabit it."
:24:24. > :24:26.Is it a concern of yours that the theatre is failing
:24:27. > :24:37.If you look in the average audience, maybe because of
:24:38. > :24:40.money, but they seem to be middle to late middle age.
:24:41. > :24:44.The sort of people I want in there...
:24:45. > :24:48.You can get the very young, you can catch them before they are
:24:49. > :24:53.ten, but after that they are a lost tribe.
:24:54. > :24:59.where we are considered mature enough to be possible carriers
:25:00. > :25:03.How do you keep on challenging yourself?
:25:04. > :25:06.How do you make sure, you know, after all these plays
:25:07. > :25:09.you don't find yourself repeating past ideas?
:25:10. > :25:15.That is a real problem because I keep thinking I must have
:25:16. > :25:23.I had a stroke a few years back, and for the first time in my life
:25:24. > :25:30.for a few months I had no ideas. And I thought, well that's it.
:25:31. > :25:34.Then a little germ arrived and I go, wow, they're
:25:35. > :25:40.still manifesting, and of course now manifesting furiously.
:25:41. > :25:48.I feel very excited but a little bit nervous.
:25:49. > :25:52.I've written next year's play as well.
:25:53. > :25:54.It's a play called Better Off Dead, I hope that
:25:55. > :26:04.Sir Alan Ayckbourn speaking to our arts editor Will Gompertz there.