welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: the australian prime minister says counter—terrorism police have foiled an attempt to blow up a plane — four people have been arrested. the threat of terrorism is very real. the disruption operation, the efforts overnight, have been very effective. but there is more work to do. tensions in venezuela ahead of a vote that could lead to a new constitution — a power grab, says the opposition. thousands of people are evacuated from a music festival in barcelona, after a fire engulfed part of the main stage. a legacy of the first world war: how unexploded shells are still being recovered in belgium a century after the conflict. what

also in the programme: the emergency call from a woman in the us who was being attacked by a boa constrictor. 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. the authorities say they have seized material that could be used to make an improvised bomb. additional security has been put in place at all australian domestic and international airports. the australian public, as andrew and mick 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. those four men, 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 — 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. poland has reacted angrily after the european union began legal action against its government over a new law giving the justice minister and the government the right to fire judges. poland's foreign minister says the eu's actions seem like blackmail. two people have been killed and more than a 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 football clubs kaizer chiefs and orlando pirates injohannesburg. hundreds of turkish women have staged a march in istanbul to protest against demands that they should dress more conservatively.

demonstrators say the protest was in opposition to the increasing number of public attacks on women over their choice of clothing. 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. the oil rich nation is mired in a deep economic crisis and violent demonstrations, which began in april, have left more than 100 people dead. 0ur south america correspondent, katy watson, sent this report from caracas. it's been four months of anger on the streets of venezuela and there's no sign of an end. protests began after president maduro moved to limit the opposition‘s power in congress, he reversed the decision but by then the anger was clear. when former president hugo chavez came to power 18 years ago, many venezuelans wanted change.

he won support among the poor because he promised to provide for them. it was the era of high oil prices but that's now over. chavez's successor, nicolas maduro, is accused of pushing venezuela to the economic brink and eroding democracy. the government says the vote is the only way to stabilise the economy and bring much—needed peace, but the opposition says it's a dictatorial move and is boycotting the vote. translation: the people who want democracy, the people who want change, the public worker who is tired, bothered and angry, come out and we'll gather in all the country's roadways, that's where we'll be. the country's paralysed. there are daily queues and food shortages. normal life is a struggle. the opposition‘s campaign of blocking streets, calling strikes and protests make life even more complicated for venezuelans but they're not giving up. with less than 2a hours to go

the government is determined to push ahead with the vote, meanwhile members of the opposition are working out what to do next. well, as tensions rise, 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. in spain, more than 20,000 people had to be evacuated from a dance music festival when the stage caught fire. it happened at the tomorrowland unite event in barcelona. there are no reports that anyone was injured. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. is this was not the sort of spectacle that the thousands who had

come here had expected. the stage at this dense music festival in barcelona lit up by a giant fire. initially, some took photos, perhaps they thought this was part of the show. but if these were pyrotechnics, they appear to have gone badly wrong. very soon the audience was cleared, thousands quickly moved to safety. there are no reports anyone was injured. people have run towards the x it, there is no panic, but as any people we re there is no panic, but as any people were inside the festival at this ally, and the firefighters took half an hour moralist to put out the fire, and the police also took time to get people off the stage. tomorrowland unite is a multi— venue festival held in eight different countries, including spain. the location there was barcelona, the concert taking place in can zam park in the north of the city. its website describes the site —— the festival as a way to bring the

people of tomorrow together to enjoy unity and experienced a massive show. but explore any further, and all you will find now is a message saying that the stage caught fire due to a technical malfunction, and the authorities will continue their investigation. so an unfortunate and to what should have been a great night. but with no apparent deaths 01’ night. but with no apparent deaths or injuries, things could have been so or injuries, things could have been so much worse. thousands of brazilian troops have begun patrolling the streets of rio dejaneiro as part 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. rio‘s renewed violence has coincided with the worst recession in brazil in decades.

unemployment reaching 1a 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: recovering first world war shelves in belgium. 100 years after the conflict. —— shells. cheering the air space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armargh, once an everyday

part in the soldiers' lot, drudgery in danger now no longer after almost four decades. if someone is in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i cannot see why people should wander in and say you are doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs are on the prowl. they have been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they are lovely and sweet. yeah, cute. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the australian government says a counter—terrorism 01’ operation has disrupted a plot to bring down an aeroplane. 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 get more now on this now. earlier i spoke to christopher sa batini, a lecturer at columbia university and executive director of the research group global americans. i asked him with the venezuelan economy in a mess — inflation over 100% — why has president maduro called for this vote. this is a pure piece of distraction. basically a year ago in october the government—controlled electoral commission postponed indefinitely both a referendum and local elections and basically after more than 100 days of protest by not just the opposition but by popular protests, as your previous reports indicated, this government has its back against the wall so what it's trying to do is distract and the plan is now to rewrite the constitution,

but the opposition has planned a boycott which means perhaps this could be an entirely government—controlled effort that will allow it to again postpone elections indefinitely and consolidate its own power. it's looking to strengthen its hand? surely. if this were right now maduro, the current president, if his popularity ratings are to be believed they are 10%. if it were a popular referendum or an election this government would lose so this is the only alternative. this is a huge distraction and two weeks ago by the way the opposition held an informal nonofficial referendum on the legitimacy of this referendum and more than 7.2 million venezuela ns voted against this referendum. it's deeply unpopular and according to surveys, only 20% of venezuelans support this constituent assembly. this is a constitution by the way that was

written only 18 years ago so he's rewriting a constitution and the ink is barely dry on it. it's said more than one in ten children in venezuela are malnourished and there are severe food shortages, what do you think the international community could do to help? again, this is key. there have been several efforts to broker some sort of compromise or mediation, first under an agreement by a number of former south american presidents and then later by the vatican, but those have no real teeth. they didn't promise or threatened sanctions against the government and allow the government to continue to kick basically the whole issue down the road. now i think the government, the international community, needs to demonstrate that it will not accept this constitutional referendum, it will not accept a new constitution, and it needs to demonstrate notjust to the us, which has imposed sanctions even just this week, over 13 government officials, the international community needs to demonstrate that this

is an unconstitutional act that fundamentally violates international norms on human rights and democracy and they need to be willing to basically punish the venezuelan government, should it not come to the mediation table to find some sort of consensus based solution to the polarisation that is occurring in the country. pakistan's ousted prime minister. nawaz sharif, has named his brother as his ultimate successor. mr sharif, who was forced to resign over corruption allegations, has appointed a caretaker leader until his sibling shahbaz sharif can be elected to parliament. it's a move that's been heavily criticised asjustin rowlatt reports. rain lashed down as the ruling party gathered to choose a new leader. many in pakistan hoped yesterday's supreme court ruling that prime minister nawaz sharif was unfit to hold office, would begin a cleansing

of corruption within the political class. the disgraced former prime minister today denied any wrongdoing, before introducing the new leader. his brother, shahbaz. an interim prime minister will hold the fort until shahbas sharif gets a seat in parliament. you would have thought keeping the party leadership and therefore the prime ministership of pakistan within the same family, would be controversial. but the only rally anywhere near the pakistani capital today, was of supporters of the ruling party. whatever reservations pakistanis may have about power staying within the sharif family, the fact is, under mr sharif, the country has prospered. terror attacks are down and the economy is growing steadily. justin rowlatt, bbc news, islamabad. later today the belgian city

of ypres will pause to remember one of the most costly campaigns of the first world war. the duke and duchess of cambridge and the king of belgium will attend ceremonies marking the start of the battle to capture the village of paschendaele. by the close of the three month struggle, half a million men, were dead, injured, or missing, in the mud of no mans land. a century later, that landscape is still yielding deadly reminders of the fighting, as robert hall reports. to go to the wonder. this is a corner of europe where first world war shells explode every working day. the burgeoning bomb disposal

tea m day. the burgeoning bomb disposal team is based in a village and they deal with at least 200 tons of unexploded munitions each year. you may think that after 100 years this harvest would be reducing. it is simply not true. during the first world war, along the western front, 1.5 billion shells were fired and of those, one in three failed to explode. that left 500 million still on the ground. a few miles away, another call. a farmer has left several unidentified shells for the squad to collect. this is a 4.5 inch british. another 4.5 inch. if we look at the length and the fuse, this is an explosive. this as well. we have no chemical shells here. one

third of the munitions that the team recover contain chemicals such as mustard gas. the firstjob is to clea n mustard gas. the firstjob is to clean them up, and not always that gently, for a rough idea of how dangerous they might be. here will look for characteristics and then foran look for characteristics and then for an exterior mark king. they do that with a hammer or a copper brush and, it sounds old—fashioned, but it is still much safer than using a sound blaster or high—pressure water. the next step is an x-ray. you can see now the bottom. this is chloride and cyanide or arsenic. even after 100 years, lives are at risk here. the chemical shells are eventually destroyed in a sealed chamber. conventional explosives

following separate path. shells, bombs, grenades and bullets forced to the surface of local farmland by frost action and ploughing. how much explosive is in one crate, do you think? always around 50 kilos of explosives. more than 50 kilos, even deeply buried, would risk damage to buildings. and said his meticulous operation rolls on. the legacy of a distant war that will provide these gleeful reminders well into another sentry. —— century. now to an unusual emergency call in the us state of ohio. from a panicked woman who said she had a boa constrictor clamped to 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.

just time to remind you now about top story this hour, that is that the australian prime minister malcolm turnbull has said the counterterrorism police have conducted a number of raids in syd ney over conducted a number of raids in sydney over a suspected plot to bring down an aeroplane. we know that four homes have been raided as pa rt that four homes have been raided as part ofan that four homes have been raided as part of an investigation and we have been told the four men have been arrested. one of them in the city centre. additional security has been put in place at all australian airports both domestic and international. it is not clear how imminent or credible that threat was. more on our website, of course. this is bbc news. 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 lighter 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,

nicholas 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. now on bbc news, it's time for click. this week, the team are in vegas, making faces for cash.