hello and welcome to bbc news. the australian prime minister has said his country has foiled a plot to bring down an aeroplane. malcolm turnbull said four people have been arrested in what he called "a majorjoint counter—terrorism operation". additional security has been put in place at all australian domestic and international airports. the australian public, as andrew and mick have observed, can have great confidence in our security arrangements, and in particular our security screening procedures at airports. however, what we have done is increased them so that there will be more bags being checked, it is really intensifying what we are already doing. and some of that will be visible, some of it will not be visible. but it will take more time. earlier our correspondent phil mercer in sydney told me more about the police investigation. well, according to the head of the australian federal police, they believe that the arrests

of four men in sydney yesterday afternoon, saturday afternoon local time, was part of an islamic—inspired plot. one was arrested in central sydney and the others were detained in the suburbs in the west of the city. investigators are saying they believe the plot was linked in some way to an improvised device and the prime minister, malcolm turnbull, saying that investigators had foiled a conspiracy to bring down an aircraft and as mr turnbull was saying, security has been beefed up, not only at sydney's domestic and international terminals but at domestic and international airports right around the country. does that mean security will be on a par in australia with other major countries or will it be slightly higher now? it's a sign of the times that transport hubs, public buildings as well as airports

and other key facilities have had security increased in recent times and if you look at the statistics provided by the authorities, since 2014, 70 people have been charged with terrorism offences following more than 30 counterterrorism raids. malcolm turnbull is urging air travellers however to remain calm. he believes the existing security measures and the new ones put in place in the last few hours should give travellers the confidence to go about their business without too much fear. as he said, they will notice increased security at all airports across the country. so international and domestic then. is there any information about whether the alleged terror plot involved a domestic or international plane journey? the australian federal police were a bit sketchy on those details. the head of the afp said

that he didn't have any specific details about the location or the time or the date of an alleged plot. he said investigators had the evidence that suggested the aviation industry was a possible target. four men detained in these raids, and we understand, according to reports in australia, that the raids carried out by australian police and members of australia's domestic spy agency weren't planned, they were the result of a tipoff and there are reports here that a suspicious device was found but the authorities haven't confirmed any of those details. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a key vote takes place in venezuela on sunday to elect an assembly which would have broad powers to rewrite the country's constitution. critics of the country's president nicolas maduro say it's

a power grab. small groups of protesters have blocked a number of roads in the capital caracas in defiance of a ban on demonstrations ahead of the vote. the governing party in pakistan has chosen shahid khaqan abbasi, a former petroleum minister as an interim prime minister. nawaz sharif stepped down after the supreme court disqualified him from holding public office. mr sharif said his brother, shahbaz, would take over the post eventually. thousands of people were evacuated from the tomorrowland dance music festival in barcelona, after a fire engulfed part of the main stage. more than 22,000 people were attending the festival. no injuries have been reported. ina in a statement the organisers said the blaze was caused by a technical malfunction. still to come on the programme — how a blind muslim immigrant from iraq fought the odds to get a first class law degree from cambridge university

the main pension scheme for british universities has a deficit of more than 17 billion pounds — the largest on record for any retirement fund in the uk. the financial hole in the scheme widened in the past year as investments failed to pay off. there are warnings that contributions to the scheme or student tuition fees may have to rise to close the gap. here's our business correspondent, joe lynam. they are the future captains of industry, but the cost of studying has mushroomed in recent years. now there's concern that tuition fees might have to rise again. that's because the main pensions scheme for lecturers, known as uss, has posted a record black hole and ways have to be found to reduce it. universities only have a limited number of sources of income. the main source of income is obviously from student fees and it seems inconceivable to me that student fees will not have to be diverted into plugging the pension deficit. under international accounting

rules, the uss pension scheme deficit almost doubled from £8.5 billion last year to £17.5 billion this year. now that gives the scheme, which has almost 400,000 members, lecturers and academics, the dubious distinction of being a record pension deficit for this country. but the chief executive of the scheme says it's way too early to think about hiking student fees. we are not responsible for setting tuition fees, clearly, but we have agreed a framework with the universities to manage the shortfall that exists within the pension plan without putting an unreasonable burden on their business models. and we have agreed a framework for looking at how pensions, contributions and the investment risk will continue to provide quality pensions for the members of the scheme. distinguished academicjoan harvey paid into the uss scheme for a0 years. she's already been paid from that pension but is worried that a less generous scheme might deter people considering academia. people that go into academicjobs

often do it because they want to teach, or they want to do research or they want to do both, and they want to do that with some freedom, and they want to explore and investigate and understand. and the pension has, historically, always been something nice that goes with thejob. because academics aren't as well paid as all these sort of fat cats in the city. pension statements are just a snapshot of the health or otherwise of their schemes. they go down and, in this case, up, but for everyone on campuses throughout the uk, clever solutions will have to be found for clever people. met police have issued a warning that criminals are increasingly using the bank accounts of young children and students to launder stolen or illegally—acquired money. they say parents need to be aware of what's going on. according to fraud prevention

service cifas, the number of frauds involving people under 21 has almost doubled in the last year. south korea says it will speed up the deployment of its american anti—missile system following pyonyang's latest rocket test. north korea's leader kimjong—un has claimed the us mainland is now within striking range. the launch has been condemned worldwide — with china expressing serious concern. from seoul, here's our correspondent karen allen. cloa ked in darkness, state—run tv captured the final moments before the missile launch. a potent symbol of north korea's defiance in the face of international sanctions, its leader kim jong—un there to witness it all. then the dramatic lift—off. and the moment that pyongyang thumbed its nose at the world. the second launch of an intercontinental ballistic

missile in less than a month. it travelled higher and further than the missile fired before, eventually splashing down in the ocean off the coast of japan. (speaking korean) then came the official confirmation from pyongyang. the newsreader announcing that this test was proof that the whole of the us is now within reach. pictures show a triumphant north korean leader. in washington, president trump described the test as "reckless and dangerous." the reaction from north korea's neighbour in the south was equally harsh. translation: south korea strongly condemns the reckless act, dashing the international community's hopes of eased inter—korean military tensions and, in particular, seoul's offer of bilateral military talks. thesejoint us—south korea military drills a response to the launch, designed to send a clear message

that seoul and washington stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of an increasingly belligerent north korea. the us already has battleships in the pacific ocean. now it's promised to scale up its strategic assets in response to this latest threat. more aircraft carriers and stealth bombers could soon be on the way. a jubilant kim jong—un wants us recognition as a nuclear power. instead, in the wake of another missile test, he's likely to face stiffer sanctions, with china and russia under pressure not to stand in the way. thousands of brazilian troops have begun patrolling the streets of rio as parts of measures to tackle organised crime in the city. violence has been on the rise in rio since the end of the olympics nearly a year ago. greg dawson reports. in the shadow of rio‘s sugarloaf

mountain, a show of force. this time a year ago, people here were preparing to welcome the world to the olympic games. 12 months on, it is a city on edge. translation: i think rio really needs this reinforcement because the violence is too much. people will feel much safer with the army in the street. walking along the shore feels safer with them here. in the first six months of 2017, an average of three people were killed each day in rio by stray bullets. many of them during shootouts between police and drug gangs. with authorities admitting much of the city is now out of their control, politicians have turned to the military. as well as the army, the country's air force and navy are also participating in the operation. translation: the objective of the mission is to defend the integrity of the people.

to preserve public order and ensure institutions are functioning. the worsening of the security situation is at the forefront of our worries. the renewed violence in rio has coincided with the worst recession in brazil in decades. unemployment reaching 14 million. human rights groups warned that the city's poorest are at greatest risk of being caught up in the violence. the government says the fight against organised crime will be a long one. it is committed to keeping troops here until at least the end of the year. the german chancellor angela merkel has offered her deepest sympathy to the relatives of a man who was killed in a knife attack at a supermarket in a hamburger. mrs merkel promised a full investigation into the attack which was carried out via known islamist. —— hamburg. this mobile phone video shot by an

eyewitness shows a group of local residents trying to stop the attack hurting anyone else. they were in a nearby cafe when he ran past attacking people on the street with attacking people on the street with a large knife. the men grabbed chairs to bring him under control as he tried to stab them. translation: a woman he tried to stab them. translation: awoman ran he tried to stab them. translation: a woman ran and shouted there is someone a woman ran and shouted there is someone with a nice, people got up, there was movement and panic on the other side of the street, some 20 or 30 people fleeing before the attack. some people who have stood up armed themselves with chairs and tried to stop them, to surround them and taste him. and there at the crossing he stopped briefly, he waved the night in the air and shouted allahu akbar, then he was cornered by other people. german officials said the attacker came to germany in 2015 as an in silence can. —— as an asylum seeker. he was known to be an

islamist, his rejection was —— his application was rejected, but he was not considered violent. trent west mac at the moment we can say that the motive was connected to religious motives, islamist motives, but there are also mental health motives. it is not yet clear what his primary motive was, we are considering both. the attack happened on friday afternoon. the man went into this supermarket, wrapped a large kitchen —— abelard to deny from a shelf and stabbed a nearby 50—year—old man to death. —— grabbed a large kitchen knife. he then ran outside. it was thanks to these local men now being called the heroes of hamburg, that more people we re heroes of hamburg, that more people were not injured or killed. our main headlines: the australian government says a counter—terrorism operation has disrupted a plot to bring down an aeroplane. four people have been arrested in sydney.

venezuelans are preparing to vote for an assembly which would have powers to re—write the constitution. opposition politicians say they'll boycott the poll. let's stay with the situation in venezuela — where plans are being put in place to stop further disruption and protests ahead of the polls. will grant has been on the streets of caracas looking at the security operation. this is the avenida francisco de miranda, one of the main arterial roads in eastern caracas. normally it would be full of traffic and pedestrians. this is one of the main paths through the city. today it is just barricaded completely. the streets are deserted. every few hundred metres there is rubbish, barbed wire, young men and women are sitting out and protecting the streets from anybody coming through, any traffic. this is the environment

in which sunday's vote is due to take place, and it is happening notjust in this part of caracas but across the city. wherever there are neighbours who are opposed to the maduro administration and sunday's vote, which they see as the final imposition of a dictatorship in venezuela, people are turning out and closing the streets, and they say they will continue to do so until they can affect a change in the country. some of the other main stories making the news this soured. pollen has reacted angrily after the eu began legal action against its government over a new law giving the justice minister and the government the right to fire judges. the foreign minister says the actions of the eu seem like blackmail. two people have been killed and over one dozen injured in a crush at a

football match in south africa. police say too many people had been trying to enter the stadium during the soweto derby between two local football clu bs. the soweto derby between two local football clubs. hundreds of turkish women have staged a march in istanbul to protest against demands they should dress more conservatively. demonstrators say the protest was in precision to the increasing number of public attacks on women over their choice of clothing. —— was in opposition to the increasing number of public attacks. returning now to our story in venezuela. we're joined attacks. returning now to our story in venezuela. we'rejoined now attacks. returning now to our story in venezuela. we're joined now by carlos camacho, a reporterfor the latin american herald tribune, is in the capital caracas. many pictures provided by our correspondent showing protesters trying to blockade the main streets. iimagine the trying to blockade the main streets. i imagine the situation must be

quite tense at the moment. i imagine the situation must be quite tense at the momentm i imagine the situation must be quite tense at the moment. it is tense, bordering on chaotic. it is serious. in order to run a serious error and all go to yourjob, you have to stop at roadblocks, negotiate with the people manning the roadblocks. they may be soldiers, police, kidnappers. going to your office has become an ordeal. obviously you are a journalist there and trying to cover the vote is going to be made quite difficult by some of the imposed guidelines. going to be made quite difficult by some of the imposed guidelinesm is silly. the government is always complaining about how the media, particularly the private media, they a lwa ys particularly the private media, they always complain about how we do not cover their events. and now they are asking journalists to stay away, 500

metres, five soccer pitches away from the media and the demonstration. how are we supposed to work like that? and express order not to be there, we are discouraged by the military. the opposition is saying, well, that is part of the problem. if you don't follow the people who vote, how can you make sure that people do not vote over and overagain? sure that people do not vote over and over again? those claims, or fears, of people voting time and again are exacerbated by the fact that apparently anybody can vote at any polling station. the regulations have been relaxed to a point where the principal of 1—man, vote has been compromised. it is no longer applying. if anybody can vote anyway, there is no way to make

certain. there is no indelible ink for your finger, certain. there is no indelible ink for yourfinger, no way certain. there is no indelible ink for your finger, no way of marking people who have voted. how do you make sure they will not vote again? they are adamant about this, they provide boxes, driven by soldiers, they arrive and they run you into a bus, they take you to a polling station next to a soldier, they force you to vote in the presence of a soldier and then if everything goes ok, you get to leave. that is no way to hold an election. there are mass raids all over caracas. there have been quite a month of violence. 113 people dead, all in demonstrations. how can you expect to hold an election. crazy. that is the word. we need to leave if they

are. thank you. —— we need to leave it there. a first class degree from cambridge is an achievement for anyone, but for a refugee who was born blind and came here to escape the war in iraq, it's all the more impressive. allan hennessy received one of the top marks in his year and he says he refuses to let any of his circumstances keep him in his lane. hannah gelbart has been to cambridge to meet him. when people ask me about my life. certainly people in cambridge, they think, god, he has had a difficult life. the reason i am able to be getting on with it, is i look back at my family in iraq and ourfriends, and i think i am very privileged. allan is a long way from the war—torn streets of baghdad where he was born totally blind. at six months old, allan came to the uk for an eye operation. his vision was partially restored in one eye. growing up on a london council estate and going to the local state school, i neverfelt different

to any of the other kids. my disability didn't get in the way of how i went about things. i was always defiant in the face of my disability. i always wanted to be like the other kids. when i was younger i would get on the bumper cars at the fairground and i would want to drive it. i was goalkeeper for arsenal's visually impaired team. a self—described troublemaker at school, allan did most of his a—levels at home and he got a place at fitzwilliam college to study law. i remember on my first day, i was sitting in the library and i had my book up to my face. someone said to me, "are you smelling that book?" i turned around sarcastically and said, "no, i'm just reading it with my nose." what has been your biggest struggle? i have been told all my life, ishould not, cannot, would not, and i have had to go against the grain.

i have got a first—class law degree from cambridge university. that should set me up for life. but when you are a disabled, blind, muslim immigrant living in britain today, there is so much more to do and the journey has only just begun. allan's achievement is more impressive, given that only seven students in the whole of the university have refugee status, according to the latest figures from march. only four students last year who were blind or partially sighted were offered a place. ijust really hope the next time i come back to cambridge it is full of people who have come from different walks of life. because i want people from unorthodox backgrounds to feel like they can overcome and they don't have to stay in their lane. you really don't have to subscribe to the life that has been written for you.

allan has been offered a scholarship to a law school in london in september. now to a rather unusual emergency call in the us state of ohio. it was from a panicked woman who said she had a boa constrictor clamped to her face. rachel cary has the story. in her own front yard in sheffield lake, ohio, a woman is strangled by the very snake she'd rescued just one day earlier. when firefighters arrived minutes later, they found the woman laying in her driveway with the 1.6 metre

boa constrictor wrapped around her body. they used a pocket knife to cut the snake's head off. the victim was treated for nonlife threatening injuries. i'm just really pleased with the paramedics' response and to think that quick, to take a pocketknife out and do what they did, obviously they had to destroy the snake but they had no other choice. boa constrictors are native to tropical, central and south america and while they're nonvenomous they squeeze their prey and swallow them whole. the victim kept no fewer than 11 snakes in her home. rachel cary, bbc news. coming up we have our world — for this week's edition vladimir hernandez travels to venezuela to report on the stories of resistance and repression. first the weather with darren bett. hello there. with rain across the north and south for saturday, there was still some room for fine weather.

for a while we had sunshine yesterday in lincolnshire but the rain did arrive and it was wet for much of the day in eastbourne in east sussex. some strong wind here as well continuing at the moment. the thickest of the cloud here has been spilling in across much of england and wales to provide outbreaks of rain but by the morning the wettest conditions are heading eastwards and out into the north sea. things are beginning to dry off but only briefly — as we head towards the north—west we still have showers continuing into the morning across northern ireland, western fringes of scotland. the rest of scotland, a dry start but it will not stay that way. it should be drier across much of northern england, lincolnshire and east anglia, rain from overnight should be gone by nine a.m. most of england and wales, bright and sunny but the showers rattle in from the bristol channel. through the day as we head into the afternoon, possibly into the evening session for the cricket at the oval there is a chance of passing shower, it should be a much better day than it was on saturday.

there will be lots of showers around on sunday, particularly towards the west. with the strong gusty winds will force showers eastwards and anywhere will catch a shower. heavy downpours with potentially hail and thunder. gusty wind as well. the south—east corner, possibly london, essex, kent, sussex missing most of the showers and seeing the best of temperature in the sunshine. still a few showers into the evening on sunday before they fade away from eastern areas and the breeze drops. the showers continue out to the west, particularly across northern ireland and western scotland. temperatures 12, 13 degrees — where they have been the last few nights. this map looks familiar as well. low pressure to the north—west of the uk for a good few days, still there for the start of the new week. nearer that low pressure there will be showers and with the wind in scotland and northern ireland, the showers could be heavy and slow moving.

stronger wind for england and wales, so passing showers again for many southern and eastern areas, it may well be dry. that trend continues with few and light showers, a bit more sunshine on tuesday. it should feel warmer. again, southern and eastern areas may well be dry. as we lose the showers from one area of low pressure we get another one coming in from the atlantic, keeping the unsettled weather going with wind and rain on the way in the middle of the week. this is bbc news. the headlines: the australian prime minister has said his country has foiled a plot to bring down an aeroplane. malcolm turnbull said four people have been arrested in what he called a majorjoint counter—terrorism operation. additional security has been put in place at all australian domestic and international airports. a key vote takes place in venezuela on sunday to elect an assembly which would have broad powers to rewrite the country's constitution. critics of the country's president nicolas maduro say it's nothing more than a power grab.

they are also urging their supporters to boycott the vote. there's been a majorfire at a music festival in spain. thousands of people were evacuated from the tomorrowland dance music event in barcelona, when flames engulfed part of the main stage. it's not clear at this point whether anyone has been injured in the fire — or how the fire started.