this is bbc news. the headlines. the australian prime minister says counter—terror police have foiled an attempt to blow up a plane. four people have been arrested in raids across sydney. the threat of terrorism is very real. the disruption operation, the efforts overnight, have been very effective, but there is more work to do. international trade secretary liam fox has said the government would not be keeping faith with the eu referendum result if it allowed the free movement of people to continue after brexit. a record number of criminals have had their sentences increased after victims and members of the public asked for them to be reviewed. events will take place this evening to mark the centenary of the battle of passchendaele in belgium. half a million allied and german soldiers were killed or wounded in the three and a half month campaign.

i will be reporting from the menin gate in ypres where tonight last post will be played in events attended by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prime minister theresa may 100 years after the battle of passchendaele. and in half an hour —click goes to las vegas for hackfest to find the the latest on cutting edge hacking research from from the most brilliant minds. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. security has been tightened at airports in australia after authorities said they disrupted a plot to blow up a plane. four people we re plot to blow up a plane. four people

were arrested in what the prime minister described as a majorjoint counterterrorism operation. investigators in australia say they have information the plot to blow up an aircraft involved the use of an improvised device. four men have been detained following raids across sydney by heavily armed police and members of australia's domestic spy agency. it's reported the operation was not planned, but a rapid response to a tip—off. the prime minister, malcolm turnbull, says the authorities have foiled what appears to be an elaborate conspiracy. i can report last night that there has been a majorjoint counterterrorism operation to disrupt a terrorist plot to bring down an aeroplane. the operation is continuing. at this stage, four people have been arrested and a considerable amount of material has been seized by police. upon the receipt of advice from our security and intelligence agencies, the government moved swiftly to protect the public

while operations were under way. and additional security measures were put in place at sydney airport on thursday. a woman who said her son and husband were among those arrested in sydney has denied they had any links to extremism. but senior police commanders say the raids were part of an alleged islamic—inspired plot. additional security measures have been put in place at domestic and international airports around the country. what people can expect to see is an increased police and security agency presence. you can expect longer delays to make sure more screening is being done on baggage, both hold luggage and hand luggage. and the travelling public need to aware, to get need to be aware, to get about their business, go to the airport as normal, but give themselves more time.

the prime minister urges travellers to stay calm and says they should go about their business with confidence. australia's national terror threat level remains at probable, which means the intelligence agencies believe that groups or individuals have the intent and capability to carry out an attack. since 2014, 70 people have been charged as a result of over 30 counterterrorism raids across the country. the international trade secretary liam fox has said unregulated free movement of people between the uk and the eu after brexit would "not keep faith" with last yea r‘s referendum result. mr fox told a sunday newspaper he'd not been party to any cabinet discussions about a transitional arrangement in which immigration rules remain similar to what they are now. with me is our political correspondent emma va rdy. as always with things brexit, there

are the politics and policy. let's talk about the politics. this is about thrashing out how brexit will work and the issue of free movement and control the borders was such a big issue of the brexit campaign. the government says freedom of movement rules will not apply when brexit happens in 2019, but in reality it does not mean overnight people from ve you will be prevented from coming to britain. —— will be prevented. immigration controls will be phased in gradually. the chancellor philip hammond said it will be sometime before we are able to introduce full controls on migration he said a period of three yea rs, migration he said a period of three years, up to the next general election after brexit when this would happen. in the sunday times today there were comments from the

international trade secretary liam fox in which he said, to the public, if freedom of movement rules appear the same after brexit, it would not keep faith with the result of the referendum. there seems to be an agreement between cabinet ministers some transitional phase is needed and britain will gradually change its relationship with the eu, but how that will work and how it will look seems to be where divisions are emerging, and also about immigration, this issue, how will it look to voters, that we are backsliding on brexit, that plays into it. in terms of the policy, how will things change? amber rudd the home secretary set out a plan for eu citizens after brexit to continue to come to britain but to appear here under registration and doctor —— documentation process. but discussions have not been started

yet with the eu about the transitional period. there will be a gap and it is not clear what the rules will look like in that period and that is where we are seeing divisions emerge. a record number of criminals have had their sentences increased under a scheme which allows members of the public to ask for them to be reviewed. last year, 1111 criminals in england and wales had their sentences increased. the government says it wants to extend the scheme to include a number of terror—related charges. aisling mcveigh reports. sarah sands stabbed a man to death in november 2014. she was convicted of manslaughter and given a 3.5—yearjail sentence. her neighbour, michael, was a convicted paedophile and sands, a mother of five, claims she lost control, stabbing him eight times. it was in january last year that the punishment was considered to be unduly lenient. judges at the court of appeal ruled that because she took a knife to his flat she must have intended

to cause serious harm and her sentence was doubled to 7.5 years. 1111 criminals have had their sentences increased in the last year, according to the attorney general‘s office. the unduly lenient sentence scheme allows them to the public to query penalties for serious offences and more people are doing just that. requests are up 17% on the previous year. sex offences are the highest number of cases where sentences were increased and 1a sex offenders who had originally escaped prison are now serving time behind bars. from next month, the scheme will be widened to include an extra 19 terror—related offences. the attorney general says in the vast majority of cases, judges do get it right. the number of sentences that are increased represent a tiny proportion of the 80,000 cases heard every single year. it claimed the lives of around 245,000 allied troops,

over approximately 100 days of heavy fighting, to achieve an advance of less than five miles. the battle of passchendaele became infamous not only for the scale of casualties, but also for the mud that filled the trenches. this weekend events are being held in belgium to mark the battle's centenary. 0ur correspondent ben brown is in ypres to watch those commemorations and joins us now. we are at the menin gate just behind me where names ofjust some of the missing british and commonwealth dead from the first world war are listed and it was along the road behind me british troops would march towards battle, to the front line, many of them never to return. you mentioned the mud. the rain was torrential in the battle, the worst rains in 30 years and it turned the battlefield into a swamp of liquid

mud in which some men drowned. 100 yea rs mud in which some men drowned. 100 years later, they still find unexploded shells and munitions from the war and unexploded shells and munitions from the warand are unexploded shells and munitions from the war and are destroying them, as my colleague robert hall found out. drie, twee, een. this is a corner of europe where first world war shells explode every working day. the belgian bomb disposal teams based in the village of poelkapelle deal with at least 200 tonnes of unexploded munitions each year. you may think that after 100 years, this iron harvest would be reducing. it's 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 in the ground. a few miles from poelkapelle, another call. a farmer has left several unidentified shells for the squad to collect. this is a british four—and—a—half inch. another four—and—a—half inch. if we look at the length and the fuses, this is high explosive. always high explosive. and 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 clean them up, and not always that gently, to get a rough idea of how dangerous they might be. here we look for characteristics and then for exterior markings. they do that with a copper brush or hammer and, it sounds old —fashioned, but it is still safer than using a sandblaster or high—pressure water. the next step is an x—ray.

you can see now the bottom. this the chemical. cyanide or arsenic. around is explosive. even after 100 years, lives are at risk here. the chemical shells are eventually destroyed in a sealed chamber. conventional explosives follow a separate path. shells, bombs, grenades and bullets forced to the surface of local farmland by frost action and ploughing. how much explosive is in these shells, in one crate, do you think? always around 50 kilos of high explosives. more than 50 kilos, even deeply buried, would risk damage to buildings.

and so this meticulous operation rolls on. a legacy of a distant war that will provide these lethal reminders well into another century. robert hall, bbc news, flanders. a century later we reflect on the horrors of the battle of passchendaele which began on 31st of july 19 17. we can talk to glynn, an historian with the commonwealth war g raves historian with the commonwealth war graves commission. we talk about passchendaele as synonymous with the horror and futility of war. it is a battle that has come to epitomise the first world war in our imagination, in britain particularly. historians have explained the conflict was notjust about mud and blood and carnage, but when you look at this battle, it is

ha rd to when you look at this battle, it is hard to escape the conclusion. imagery of the blasted wasteland, quagmire, swamps, that is what we think of when we think of the first world war. they were worst rains in 30 years, bad luck in a sense for the generals planning the attack. not all the battle was fought in those conditions, the middle part was successful for the british army with the german army losing heavily but the majority of the battle was fought under atrocious conditions, which removed any prospect of a breakthrough so desired by the british generals. passchendaele lives in the memory, a byword for the horror of war, but at the time it was controversial and the prime minister lloyd george was a relu cta nt minister lloyd george was a reluctant supporter of the attack. he felt he had the opportunity to call it off but for various reasons it did not happen and he felt guilty

in many respects after the end of the war, it was called the campaign of the mud. it is important to reflect on the experiences of those who fought here from all around the world. menin gate, the most famous memorial, commemorating people from australia, africa, india. the west indies. this place came to symbolise the worst of the first world war. the human cost of the single battle of passchendaele. give us an idea of the scale. it is hard to be precise but estimates suggest half a million men on both sides were killed or wounded in the battle. many lived with the scars physical and psychological for the rest of their lives and brought home strong memories of the battlefields around ypres. it's feared the memory of this battle into the consciousness of people in the uk and the world.

that loss of life for a gain of five miles and the capture of the village of passchendaele. it is very hard to understand today and to avoid the idea of a futile war but that was not how it was seen at the time. the german army also suffered heavily in this battle and in events this evening and tomorrow, there will be reflection on the experience of all those who served on both sides of the line. thank you. glynn mentioned the line. thank you. glynn mentioned the events beginning this evening with the last post played at menin gate as it is every night. events attended by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prime minister theresa may. and you can see live coverage of the commemorations to mark the centenary of the battle of passchendaele from flanders in belgium — tonight at 7pm on bbc 2 police in germany say an attack on a

nightclub in which two people were killed and several injured was not related to terrorism. the attack happened in konstanz near the border with switzerland. the gunman is understood to be a 34—year—old iraqi citizen who had been living in germany for some time. he died after being shot by police. the headlines. the australian prime minister says counterterror police foiled an attempt to blow up a plane. four people were arrested. the international trade secretary liam fox said the government would not be keeping faith with the eu referendum result if it allowed the free movement of people to continue after brexit. a record number of criminals had their sentences increased after victims and members of the public asked them to be reviewed. time for the sport. a big day ahead for england at the women's european championships.

they're in quarterfinal action later today against france. england haven't won against them since mark sampson took over in 2013, and have been beaten by them in their last three major tournaments, but that's a record they're confident they can change. what the england team are really building, as i mentioned, they beat germany two years ago for the first time ever. in friendly matches, tournaments, regardless. i imagine they will go with the same mindset. it is not anything different for this one game, it is part of the momentum and building process he and the team have been a part of this last six months. i have seen that mentality and that real internal drive step up a gear. there's one extra quarterfinal today, after germany's

clash with denmark was postponed after torrential rain in rotterdam. germany took the lead after two minutes. but just a germany took the lead after two minutes. butjust a few moments ago, denmark equalised. the winner will meet either austria or spain in the semifinals. 1—1 between germany and denmark. england have resumed their second innings against south africa. play got under way at 11am. england were 127- to got under way at 11am. england were 127— to a few moments ago. keaton jennings was dismissed for 48, the only wicket lost today so far. later this afternoon great britain's adam peaty will attempt to win his third

gold medal in the 4 x 100 medley relay final at the world championship in budapest. he became the first man to retain the 50 metres, twice breaking his own record on the way. and he had victory in the hundred metres breaststroke. i am over the moon with my performance on the 50 which means my easy speed is there. everything in training is working. i knew the 100 would be quite fast, as well and to have the second fastest time ever was pretty good. the performance in rio was such a massive event. i have that extra energy and adrenaline. i am over the moon with my performances. and i defended by titles. earlier this morning max litchfield and qualified for the men's 400 metres individual medley final this afternoon.

he finished second in his heat and was also second fastest overall. hannah miley just qualified for the women's 400 metres individual medley. she was eighth quickest. jonny brownlee's hopes of becoming triathlon champion look in doubt. you missed the last leg through illness and is well down the points list after completing four races this year. spain's defending champion won the race and he is on course to defend his world title once again. that is all the sport. i will be back at 1:30pm. the city's mayor andy burnham says a

review into the manchester bombing will look at what happens so lessons can be learned for the future. our review will look at what happened as a response to the attack. it was a terrible event in which 22 people lost their lives and it provoked a massive response from the police and the other emergency services. what we want to look at is how did those services respond and in particular how well word they prepared for this type of event. we know there will be a lot of good things we can learn from this, but there will also be things that we can see that can improve the way such events are dealt with. that is the purpose of the review. it's an independent review, that will look robust new, thoroughly and fairly at the issues. and who will you be hearing from? well, we will be hearing of course from the emergency services, but, and this is really important, we want to get the voice

of the families, the victims, those who have been injured. and indeed anyone who was caught up in the terrible events of that night. it's really important to us that we conduct the review in the way that shows that we have listened to those who were directly affected. will you be holding public sessions, or will this be an exercise on paper? i'd very much like to look at having public sessions, but i do want to consult with others about how best to get the views of those affected. the that will be one of the first things people do as a panel when we get to meet. i want to do it in a way they feel works for them. you have spoken about examining the preparedness of the emergency services, will you be looking at whether or not this terrible attack could have been prevented? no, i think that's a different kind of review, actually, so the factors that led up to the terrible attack will be for a different kind of review than we are doing. we are very much focused on the response to the review and how well—prepared manchester,

greater manchester was for such an event happening. just finally, what will happen to the findings of the review, will they be binding? well, this is a report that is commissioned by the mayor, andy burnham, and we will report back to him and indeed to all of the services that are responsible for dealing with emergencies. my expectation is they will take those recommendations very seriously, because it will be an evidence —based review. and it's very much about helping to deal with things in the future. i think also it will bring forward lessons that are relevant and not just a greater manchester, but the country as a whole. donald trump has again criticised china over

its relations with north korea. on twitter he accused china of making hundreds of billions of dollars from trade but doing nothing to tackle north korea's nuclear threat. his comments come after north korea carried out its second major missile test in a month. the us air force says two of its bomber planes have flown over the korean peninsula in response. hope it is an the people of venezuela will vote today in a ballot for members of an assembly that will have the power to rewrite the country's constitution. opponents of president maduro are boycotting the poll, an election day amid near anarchy in venezuela. after months of violent protest, anti—government demonstrators are not about to give up. these barricades are not manned

by hardened guerrillas. but ordinary venezuelans, who insist it is their last resort against autocracy. this is the only democratic weapon we have left, says this person, with which we can show our anger without violence. this vote is not being conducted in a normal electoral environment in venezuela. it comes against the backdrop of barricades of deserted streets, or violence and of repression. these neighbours, who are opposed to the vote, say it is the final imposition of a dictatorship in venezuela and have vowed to keep these protests going until they effect change in the country. some have gone further. young people calling themselves the resistance have taken to the streets with molotov cocktails and have faced water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas in response. more than a hundred people have

died in recent protests. and these young men know they could be next. translation: we're scared. everyone who takes to the streets are scared. but we are more scared of what this government has in store for us. we've lost the fear of losing our lives. in such a chaotic atmosphere, the rhetoric has reached new and worrying levels on both sides. translation: we will never surrender. what can't be done with votes we will do with weapons. we will free our homeland using weapons. this is now the most controversial election of venezuela's modern era, with the opposition boycotting the vote, the president is assured of a win. but amid such violence it may prove a hollow victory. evil first of all has been cancelled

due to heavy rainfall. thousands of festivalgoers attempt to leave the site. here is more on what to expect. it is sunshine and showers that have been with us several days and that is the story the next few days. we had heavy rain overnight but has cleared. we have a rash of showers in northern parts that are making their way eastwards through the day. some of the showers across scotland, northern ireland, wales in particular can be thundery. they will drift eastwards. parts of east anglia and the south—east should stay dry. temperatures between 17 and 22 and feeling pleasant between the showers but the showers will be frequent, particularly in the north

and west, some drifting into the south—east and evening hours. fading across england and wales but showers will continue in scotland. tomorrow, sunshine and showers. fewer showers towards the south—east and temperatures up to 22 degrees. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines: the australian prime minister says counter—terror 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.