this is bbc news. the headlines at five: president trump has criticised china on twitter, saying it's doing nothing to halt north korea's weapons programme after pyongyang test—fired a second intercontinental ballistic missile in a month. police in australia believe an alleged plot to blow up a plane was inspired by islamist extremism. four arrests have been made following raids. the 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. also in the next hour — several people killed ahead of a deeply divisive election in venezuela. the polls to elect a new assembly to

rewrite the constitution tech space amid continuing violence and an opposition boycott. the duke and dutchess of cambridge willjoin the prime minister this evening to mark the centenary of the battle of passchendaele in belgium — one of the bloodiest of world war one. i will be reporting live from ypres, where those commemorative events will be getting under way in the next few hours, and i will be talking to some of the thousands who have come here this weekend from britain to remember ancestors who fought the battle of passchendaele yea rs fought the battle of passchendaele years ago. good afternoon. president trump says china isn't doing enough to halt the weapons programme of its ally, north korea. he made the comments on twitter after pyongyang test—fired its second

intercontinental ballistic missile in a month. from seoul, our correspondent karen allen sent this report. us bombers dominated the sky as tensions mount over the korean peninsula. escorted by fighter jets as part of a drill, it was seen as a direct response to north korean aggression. and the us president is blaming china for letting it get this far. taking to twitter, he said: but china also condemned friday's second intercontinental missile test. this powerful rocket flew faster

and further than the one before. experts believe north korea's nuclear and missile capability is growing stronger by the day. and so, it seems, is kimjong—un‘s hunger to be heard. north korea's young leader. the north korean side is sending a message to the united states. the missiles are aiming at the united states and so we are going to talk to you, not to korea. more joint military exercises, a sign that force is not being ruled out, but pressure is mounting for a diplomatic solution. a pre—emptive strike could destabilise the entire region, but how long is washington prepared to wait? here in seoul, south korea depends on the americans for security. but the presence of tens of thousands of us forces here feeds into north korea's propaganda that it is under threat, justifying its nuclear ambition.

with the military on high alert, the korean peninsula feels more dangerous than just a week ago. avoiding a confrontation is now key. a little earlier, karen outlined what china could do to halt the north korean weapons programme. it does have influence. it has trading influence, and that is what donald trump was alluding to. but its influence may be limited. there have already been sanctions against china. its imports of coal from north korea, which were said to be funding the nuclear programme, stopped after a un security council resolution. there are other areas it's able to cut down on, and we could expect to see a push for un sanctions, new un resolutions later this week. but it's notjust about china. there's also russia.

it still has to recognise that this was an intercontinental ballistic missile. that would be a trigger point for russia to be pushed on sanctions, so it's not as simple as president trump has indicated. after all, there have been decades of mistrust in this part of the world. security has been tightened at airports around australia after the authorities said they'd disrupted a plot to blow up a plane. four people have been arrested in what the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull, described as a "majorjoint counter—terrorism operation". phil mercer reports. a suspect is taken into custody in the surry hills neighbourhood of sydney, one of four people arrested in raids across the city by heavily armed police and members of australia's domestic spy agency. investigators say they have information that the plot to blow up an aircraft involved the use of an improvised device. as roads were sealed off and properties searched, it has been 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. a woman who said her son and husband were among those arrested in sydney has denied they had any ties 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. 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 more than 30 counterterrorism raids across the country. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. police in germany say an attack on a nightclub in which one person was killed and three others were seriously injured is not thought to be related to terrorism. a gunman opened fire at the venue in the town of konstanz on the swiss border. he's been identified as a 34—year—old iraqi citizen who had been living in germany for some time. he died after being shot by police. 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 is in ypres to watch the commemorations. the battle of passchendaele has become synonymous with the how and the horror of war. the british and commonwealth soldiers went through ypres up to the front line for the battle and they faced not only machine guns and shellfire, but also mustard gas and also the mud you mentioned. there had been the worst torrential rain in the area for 30 yea rs, torrential rain in the area for 30 years, and it really was a swamp of liquid mud. some of the men and horses involved on the british side simply drowned. this weekend, we have commemorative events to remember what happened at passchendaele. and it all began 100 yea rs passchendaele. and it all began 100 years ago on the 31st ofjuly 19 70.

thousands of british descendants of men who fought in the battle of passchendaele will be here this weekend, and all of that has been arranged by the culture department. culture secretary karen bradley is with me now. why did you think it was important to get so many british descendants of those who fought in passchendaele over here for this ce nte nary 7 passchendaele over here for this centenary? well, as you have said, those images of bodies being dragged through the mud, the horses, that is what we think of as world war i. and we must never forget the sacrifice that so many men and women made in that so many men and women made in that battle. it was important to make sure it was real for those families, those descendants who lost loved ones and who have lived for 100 years knowing they had a loved one who was part of this incredible battle. they are now able to come and rememberthem, which will battle. they are now able to come and remember them, which will be one of the most moving and spectacular

services we have had to commemorate the first world war. so there has been a ballot, and 4000 british people have been able to come over for the centenary events? that's right, andl for the centenary events? that's right, and i willjoin a few of them in st george 's church here in a moment to meet some of the descendants and hear their stories. those stories of families and what they have been through really makes this real, so i am pleased that we could make sure that it was people who were directly affected who were able to be here today. we also have the fantastic national citizens service of young people who are here to host them. so we have young people from britain here today, helping people commemorate on a day marking that 100 years to the day when the battle started. so you have not only helped organise this, but you have a personal connection, i think? i do. two of my family names are involved and i lost an uncle in

the great battle of arras before passchendaele started. i was able to visit the battlefield he died in on the anniversary of his death, which was something special. knowing how it felt for me and my family to be there and to almost have that closure for someone we lost and marked his grave, i can understand how families will feel today. karen bradley, culture secretary, thank you forjoining me here in ypres. those commemorative events get under way this evening with the last post, which is played every night here in ypres. the duke and duchess of cambridge will be here, and the prime minister as well. there will be more commemorative events tomorrow. 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 two. the international trade secretary

liam fox says unregulated free movement of people between the uk and the european union after brexit would "not keep faith" with the result of the eu referendum. the chancellor philip hammond has previously said "it will be some time" before full migration controls can be introduced. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is in westminster. chris, yet another division being exposed over brexit? yeah. there is one year and eight months to go until the uk leads the european union. the discussion that has been going on within government in the last few weeks is exactly what happens the day after, in other words in april 2019. and there is an agreement that there needs to be a transitional arrangement. in other

words, the uk is outside the european union, but it hangs onto some elements that are associated with membership. but then comes the disagreement. which bits, and what is the balance, particularly the balance between access to european markets for trade and the whole business of immigration? so we have seen liam fox, in an interview with the sunday times, emphasised that the sunday times, emphasised that the idea of brexit, for many people, the idea of brexit, for many people, the motivation in voting to leave the motivation in voting to leave the european union was having something done about immigration. then you get others like chancellor philip hammond, who argued that there is more of a focus on the economy and ensuring as frictionless access to european markets for trade as possible. so there is a disagreement within the cabinet about the flavour of that transitional period, and that is before you even get onto a discussion about what our relationship with the eu looks like the other side of any transitional arrangements. 0ne the other side of any transitional arrangements. one more thing — the

whole business of this transitional arrangement hasn't even yet been discussed with brussels. so to that extent, we are still talking about something that is rather hypothetical. a rather bemused brussels probably watching on. i understand there is a plan coming from amber rudd? yeah, the home secretary last week talked about this whole need to have a discussion about immigration, again picking up on something that liam fox is talking about in the sunday times. but amber rudd was talking about the longer term position. given that a consequence of leaving the european union is that a huge number of powers will return here to westminster, you remember the slogan of the leave campaign about taking back control, one consequence of thatis back control, one consequence of that is that this place and whoever is in government here will have to shake and immigration policy. until now for a generation, anyone grumbling about immigration has basically been met by mps at westminster saying, not our problem, it's brussels. that will not be the

case any longer, so political parties will begin to have an argument about how many people they think it is right to accept to come to the uk notjust from beyond europe, which they have control over now, but from within europe as well. and manifestos will have to set out that policy. amber rudd has asked a committee of independent experts to look at that and report by next september. and that will shape the government's immigration act, the whole idea of what immigration should look like the other side of a transitional arrangement once we have left the european union. 0ur conversation serves to illustrate the central truth of politics at the moment — brexit dominates everything. chris, thank you. a 27—year—old man has been charged in connection with the rape of a 14—year—old girl at a railway station in birmingham on tuesday night. british transport police say they're still looking for a man who subjected her to a second attack after she flagged down

a passing carfor help. the headlines on bbc news: president trump has criticised china on twitter, saying it's doing nothing to halt north korea's weapons programme after pyongyang test—fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a month. security has been tightened at airports across australia after the authorities said they'd disrupted a plot to blow up a plane. four people have been arrested following raids across sydney. the 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. voting has begun in venezuela for a controversial plan to create a new parliament. the new constituent assembly would override the existing, opposition—led congress in what critics are calling

a power grab by president nicolas maduro. the opposition parties in the oil—rich nation are boycotting the vote. will grant reports from caracas. 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 woman, 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, of 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 is 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. our correspondent will grant is live in the capital caracas. we are now getting reports of widespread violence because of this vote. tell us more? we have heard that at least three politicians have been killed, two for the opposition and one candidate for the pro—government party. the details are murky, but it seems that at

least one of them was killed in an eastern city, while the pro—government candidate was killed ina pro—government candidate was killed in a south—eastern city. itjust adds to that tension that we saw in the report. people are very nervous. some of the streets are deserted. elsewhere, people are turned out to vote, but it is in an environment of nervousness and tension. when we went to a shanty town in the east of the city, we did see government supporters turning out, but they we re supporters turning out, but they were not the same numbers that are used to see in venezuela under president chavez, when you would see queues snaking around the block and so on. why is president maduro proving to be such a divisive president? what is it about him that has brought us to this point? well, to begin with he was a hand—picked successor of hugo chavez. so initially, those who supported chavez stayed with nicolas maduro. as time has gone on and the oil

price has dropped exponentially in venezuela, he has not been able to maintain the same social programmes that president chavez was able to offer to the people, specifically in terms of food subsidies, education and health care. those have dropped off dramatically and the country is facing rampant inflation, food shortages and so on. of course, the corruption and violence have never gone away, so it is a very difficult picture. and in that environment, he has haemorrhaged the support that president chavez used to enjoy. he is just not as charismatic as hugo chavez was while he was alive. and as well as the opposition boycott and the violence you have described, he has also attracted international criticism because of this election? exactly. the neighbouring president of columbia said he would not be recognising the result because he said the whole election process was spurious. that echoes what the

opposition here believe. they are boycotting the result of the election which they say is illegal and unconstitutional. so that immediately hands a victory to president maduro, but will it be the kind of victory he once? he may have to set up a sort of separate state effectively with a different supreme court and a different legislative body to the existing one which then simply act on his commands, rather than those who are led by the opposition. it is an extremely complex and polarised situation in one of the richest oil nations on the planet. thank you. 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, 141 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 three and a half—year jail sentence. her neighbour, michael, was a convicted paedophile and sands, a mother of five, claims she lost control, stabbing him eight times. but it was in january last year that the punishment was considered to be unduly lenient. judges at the court of appeal ruled that because sands took a knife to his flat, she must have intended to cause serious harm and her sentence was doubled to seven and a half years. 141 criminals have had their sentences increased in the last year, according to the attorney general‘s office. the unduly lenient sentence scheme allows 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 make up the highest number of cases where sentences were increased and 14 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, and the number of sentences that are increased represent a tiny proportion of the 80,000 cases heard every single year. the scottish government has called for scotch to be defined in uk law in order to protect whisky exports after brexit. holyrood is concerned that any future trade deal with the united states might allow american firms to brand their whiskies as scotch. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. under eu rules of origin, any spirit described as scotch whiskey must be aged for at least three years and matured in scotland.

but the scottish government says the us negotiators during the recent trade talks with the eu had wanted this definition to be relaxed to accommodate its whiskey makers. so now holyrood wants the eu definition of scotch to be incorporated into uk law after brexit. that is because whiskey making supports 20,000 jobs and is worth £4 billion to scotland. we have to make absolutely certain that any deal done with the us protects scottish jobs. if that deal does not protect the definition of whiskey as a spirit matured for three years or more, it weakens that definition and we will lose scottish jobs in the whiskey industry. 10,000 jobs depend on it, another 10,000 in the supply chain. so we say to liam fox, don't tangle with the scottish whiskey industry, protect it. don't sell it away. a spokesperson for the department of international trade, which co—ordinates future deals, says that scotch success story and we will support the industry so it continues

to thrive to thrive and prosper post brexit. whiskey may be the water of life, but it might also give london and edinburgh a headache — in trade terms, at least. have been —— cathedrals have been pa rt have been —— cathedrals have been part of our towns for centuries, but in the face of falling congregation numbers and rising repair bills, they are being forced to modernise. fiona trott has been to durham cathedral to see some priceless relics of saint cuthbert, which the cathedral hopes will help to attract more visitors. one of england's most treasured landmarks. now some of its own treasures are being put on permanent display. the sanctuary knocker. it was the passport for criminals or those fleeing justice to get an extension on their sentences. they could come here, they could claim sanctuary for 37 days. for me, personally, this is literally the jewel of the exhibition. it is st cuthbert‘s pectoral cross. he probably wore it as a bishop's

cross during his lifetime. over 700,000 people visit durham cathedral every year. but entry is free and running costs are high. at the moment, our running deficit is around half a million a year. what we are trying to do is turn the ship and turn it into financial sustainability. this tower renovation alone costs £5 million. at guildford cathedral, costs and repairs there have been so high that at one point, the bishop warned it may have to close its doors. at peterborough, they have had to make redundancies and a new dean has been appointed to try to pay off its debts. the church of england is currently reviewing the financial management of all of its cathedrals. a special working group has been set up. here in durham, visitors say they will be happy to help cathedrals meet their costs. it is important for the upkeep.

if an admission charge has to be put here, i certainly wouldn't complain and i think it is something that must be done to keep the place the way it is. i would be happy to pay, to see an exhibition or evenjust to get inside and help pay for restoration in some small way. how much would you pay? £10 sounds fair. i think it is important to preserve the heritage for the country. over the years, the number of worshippers coming to cathedrals has declined. making use of their religious past may be key to preserving their future. time to find out how the weather is looking. well, it's awfully showery today and we can't get rid of them. they are here to stay for the next 24 hours and some of them will be heavy. already causing problems across a few areas in the country, with various events being called off

because of the rain, not just the showers, but the rain from last night as well. low pressure is generating these showers and they are racing across the country. some of them are very heavy, but some of us will miss them altogether. for example, the south—east of the country stays dry this evening. through tonight, the showers are still continuing in many areas, but then late in the night, it clears up. lots of clear weather across the south and central areas, with those pesky showers still continuing in northern and western parts of the country. pretty chilly in the north. tomorrow, we do it all over again. i said the showers continue for 24 hours, particularly in the north and west. the south will be a bit drier and brighter. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 5:30pm: president trump has criticised china on twitter, saying it's doing nothing to halt north korea's weapons programme — after pyongyang test—fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a month.

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 and the efforts overnight have been very effective but there is more work to do. a leading candidate and an opposition activist are killed in venezuela as a deeply divisive election for a new assembly to rewrite the constitution takes place. now an update from the bbc sports centre. we'll have news on the cricket, formula one and rugby league coming shortly, but first... could the 43 year wait for england's women to beat france be over? well, they face each other in tonight's euro

2017 quarter—final. the lionesses have lots to france in their past three major tournament but could that change tonight. our correspondent katie gornall is deventer for us. katie, england have a terrible record against france, not beaten them since 1974...can they do it tonight? after germany, that big shock earlier in the day got knocked out by denmark. teams will believe that anything is possible. england do have a terrible record against france. haven't been on since 1974. france. haven't been on since 1974. france have beaten them in the past three major tournaments, including the reason she believes cup. but tra nsfer the reason she believes cup. but transfer one of the big favourites coming into this. they ranked third in the world, but theyjust haven't been able to replicate the form a lot of the players have shown further cuts in the group stages. they struggled in the group, just

squeezed through. i think there is a feeling among the camp that maybe they're there for the taking. we got a sense of that yesterday when mark sampson was talking in his press conference, he sounded very confident. you want to be our very best. if we had, there is no question in my mind that we will win. if not, we have to try to find a way to win in difficult circumstances. never comes away, we will be prepared for. i'm confident we can excuse what we need to do win. and went had a brilliant record so far. what you think has changed with another team this time? —— england have. that something i have been speaking to the players are a lot about. they all said they play —— gildart preparers, fitter than ever before. that's partly because mark sanson named his team so early, three months out from the tournament. they have had that time tournament. they have had that time to gel together and have been in

great form in the group. the belief and confidence in england's is something they haven't really seen before. it is well founded. they won three games out of three in the group. one of the —— three teams to have a 100% record. jody taylor as well firing in four of those tangles. they are on a roll but there is —— a isn't one in the group stages. it will be a step up again against france's evening. thank you. right, austria and spain are battling it out for a place in the semi—final. it's currently goal—less after half an hour. whoever wins from that will face denmark. who shocked everyone earlier today when they dumped defending champions germany out of the tournament. their match was meant to have taken place last night but the heavy rain meant they had to play this morning. germany took the lead not before denmark managed to get level after conceding and grabbed victory with seven minutes to play. theresa nielsen with the winner, leading germany to only their third defeat in the competitions 26 year history. league cup holders celtic will face

kilmarnock in the second round of the scottish league cup after the group stages came to a close with a win for dundee united in the dundee derby united went ahead just before half time through paul mcmullan. his third goal of the competition. dundee drew level after the break. mark o'hara with the equaliser. the match finished 1—1 and went to a penalty shoot out to determine who would finish top of the group and seeded for the next round. rory deacon missed the decisive penalty for dundee, handing the win to united. both teams go into the last 16 though. and will face each other! the full draw is available on the bbc sport website. manchester united are close to signing the serbian midfielder nemanja matic from chelsea for £40 million matic, who's 28, would be united's third summer buy including 75 million for striker romelu lukaku. it will be the second time united managerjose mourinho has bought the midfielder having signed him

for chelsea from benfica for 21 million three years ago. england have set south africa an unlikely 492 to win the third test match at the oval england started the fourth day needing runs and debutant tom westley delivered with a maiden test half century. captain joe root followed with 50 of his own before some late lusty blows from jonny bairstow set south africa a world record run chase. south africa have lost a couple of wickets in reply. stuart broad bowled haino kuhn for 11 and then key man hashim amla edge toby roland jones to root at slip. lost four hashim amla managed to edge toby roland—jones to brood at slip. south africa or 54—4. there is commentary on five live for its extra. sebastian vettel will be able to enjoy his summer break after winning

the hungarian grand prix ahead of his ferrari team mate kimi raikkonen. this britain's lewis hamilton saw the gap between himself and vettel, the championship leader, widen to fourteen points after he surrendered third place to his mercedes team mate valtteri bottas. nick parrott has the details. they would have that problem to sebastien battle. he had to battle his steering wheel during the last for much of the race. i said he's moved hamilton had when it became clear only the briton could catch the ferraris. but he couldn't pass them. the turbulent air almost cost

him dear. sebastien battle claimed a chequered flag for his fourth win of the season, and his championship lead was extended to 14 points when hamilton obeyed orders to hand third place back. the sport now enters its summer break, with work to do for mercedes, while others can kick act. —— kickback. wigan warriors and leeds rhinos have been involved in an excellent game to decide who will reach the challenge cup final at wembley. later this afternoon great britain's adam peaty it was stunned down according to the history books. one challenge cup title to their name in 1938, while opponents wigan were 19 times the winners. well fulford hadn't got the final 448 years, they would give everything in this encounter. yet they couldn't cope with the start wigan made. 12—0 ahead after 16 minutes. the red devils have had

their best season in years. here was an example. they got their rights, for a second try in quick succession. when sam tomkins was sin binned together with a penalty from cobra michael dobson, it was beginning to look like the history books could be ignored. not so. in the wet weather, the warriors were wonderful in the second 40, scoring a try fitting of their performance. with a dropped goal, they led by seven. a matter of minutes remaining. could be no from salford. like that one. and wigan would punish them. oliver gildart, who opened the scoring, finished it, too. a brilliant semifinal but the weight of history... the 31st

challenge cup final. we dominated the first 20 minutes and then went a bit slack. we gave them too much... me going off ten minutes didn't help. later this afternoon great britain's adam peaty will attempt to win his third gold, medal in the 4 by 100 medley relay final at the world championship in budapest. the british women also qualified in this event max litchfield qualified second fastest for the final of the 400 metres individual medley but narrowly missed out on a medal. he was pipped to the podium in the final few strokes finishing fourth. american chase kalise won. sarah vasey, second from the bottom, finished a credible 6th in the final of the women's 50 metre breaststroke. america's lilly king won in a world record time of 29 point four seconds the world's richest one day cycle race is entering its final stages on the streets of london.

these are live pictures of the ride london surrey classic. 13 of the sport's top teams are fighting it out for victory over the 116 mile route from london into surrey and back. you can see who wins the race live on bbc one. australia's karrie webb had shared the overnight lead and led by one stroke going up the seventeenth hole, but a double bogey saw her drop two shots. south korea's mi hyang lee is the club house leader after a round of 66 left her finish a shot ahead on six under. jonny brownlee's hopes of becoming world triathlon champion look to be more for you in the next hour. it was the one of the muddiest and bloodiest conflicts of world war one and tomorrow marks 100 years since passchendaele. the third battle of ypres in west flanders lasted for three months. robert hall has visited a tunnel used by allied soldiers during the battle, which has been opened to the public to mark the centenary. they are in good condition. what

happened is, during the battle of passchendaele, everything was destroyed. and so were all possible shelters and so on. we are now six metres underground, as this was used asa metres underground, as this was used as a shelter. these small rooms of this passage, these were where men could sleep? yes. beds or storage rooms. at least they have some shelter from apartments and resting places. this has been a massivejob to open this up to the public? yes. the dugout was discovered in 1989. the dugout was discovered in 1989. the arts colleges were trying to do some research. when they found the

original entrance of the dugouts. when you open this up, what did you think? it's extraordinary, it is preserved totally. because of the water. this is the main reason. the dugout is normally completely underwater, the custom level of the grand... because the wood is underwater, that's the reason why it is so well preserved. this has been a lot of work the people here. why did you feel it was so important that today's generation saw this, just for the 100 days, just briefly? it's so important for us as a museum will stop we want to be an open museum that connects with the heritage and landscape. this is a unique example of such a heritage point in the landscape. a unique opportunity to set about before the public so they can see and feel how it must have felt to live under the

grounds, six metres underground. well, earlier my colleague ben brown spoke to the son and grandson of a soldier who fought in passchendaele. mike copeland begins by explaining how his father signed up to fight. he was one of many who turned up at recruiting stations and made out he was older than he was. he thought he had to say 17. he was sent back round the block to come back and tell them he was 18. that's how he got in. then came to france in 1719 -- in 1917. got in. then came to france in 1719 —— in 1917. without passchendaele in june orjuly. but he survived the battle ? june orjuly. but he survived the battle? he did survive the battle. he went through the rest of the war until very near the end, but tempered 1918, when he was gassed. obviously i'm here, survived to tell the tale and went on to serve as a commander in this world war. which

is fairly unusual as well. and he was taken prisoner of war. he was. that was quite a famous raids on the french coast. he was a prisoner of warfor french coast. he was a prisoner of war for three years until he escaped. did he talk much about the battle of passchendaele? not at all. it is very last days, he spoke in a fairly garbled fashion to my brother will stop at nothing coherence. he just didn't want to talk about it. i think it was so horrendous that they wiped out of their minds, got on with their lives. chris, m's son, you have another connection. my great—grandfather on my mother's site is and is truly an artist who served in the first world war. then came to be unveiling of the menin gate in 1927. following that came to paint the opening ceremony, but the

story goes that he can sleep that night, went for a walk at midnight and had a vision of soldiers rising up and had a vision of soldiers rising up from the battlefields. about 40 painted. this is called the menin gate at midnight. a huge canvas. it is hanging in the australian war memorial at canberra. it was purchased and gifted to the australian nation as a sign of respect and a former sacrifice. he then also went on to paint other paintings. as a family this morning we went to visit the newbridge, another site of the game is canadian action in the first world war. we felt it was an appropriate time to come out. just tell us how important it is. forever ready to remember what happened at passchendaele100 yea rs what happened at passchendaele100 years later. i'm a bit of a history

had it myself, so it appeals from that point of view, i think it's fascinating. i suppose the main thing isjust to keep on remembering how terrible it was. i don't think any of us can begin to imagine what particularly passchendaele was like. it was supposed to be the war that ended all wars. of course it hasn't and probably never will. but at least if we can commemorate it, the people that went through it, their bravery, perhaps, hopefully, we learn something and there is a message that comes out from that. passchendaele, they thought for a three orfour months. passchendaele, they thought for a three or four months. between the british, french, the allies, the germans, something like 500,000 people or killed. these are unbelievable numbers. we won i think it was five miles of land which we then gave up against six months later when the germans came back again. ina

later when the germans came back again. in a sense, the lunacy of it. the bravery is trying to remember that we must never allow ourselves to get into these situations if we can possibly avoid it. wise words. thank you very much. pity for your time. those commemorate events getting under way, with the last post in the grey here attended by the duke and duchess of cambridge and the 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 two. now, on meet the author, jim naughtie talks to conn iggulden — an historical fiction novelist who has recently turned to fantasy writing. you've decided to cast away historical setting and get rid

of real characters that we might know and gone into fantasy — if it's a word you're happy with. why? i've always loved historicalfiction. i've always read it and my entire career has been built around it, but i've also always read fantasy and the big difference, to some extent, is the freedom. in historicalfiction you have to check every single fact, otherwise somebody will e—mail you — a roman re—enactor, something along those lines. but with fantasy it felt like i had a slightly... the reins were off. i didn't have too stop in the middle of a see them think, "did they have sidesaddle in this particular...?" hang on, she's a woman on a horse, would she have been riding sidesaddle? which is my constant experience in historicalfiction. you make it up. well, exactly, you have that freedom. in historicalfiction, you do feel the constraints because it has to be as accurate as possible, you have to find a story in the real history. of course, you've got an army of readers and they've

enjoyed ancient rome, the mongol empire, the wars of the roses, and so on. they've trusted me. they've trusted you. and they've felt at home, they've enjoyed the setting. it's risky, you know, taking them into a city that doesn't exist. it is and it's almost like starting again. there is no way to sugar that pill. it is a completely different audience. some people won't touch it. i've always thought that historical fiction and fantasy are the closest genres. there are certain elements — the thrill of a battle, for example, can be very similar. of course. and it depends how you do it. i don't have any dragons in mind, although george rr martin has done very well with them. well, there's a bit of magic in this book. it's not harry potter magic in the sense that lives aren't governed by it, but it's very much there. there's a kind of superstition that becomes real. yes. the point about it really is i wanted to have as few constraints as possible. an awful lot of stories, at their heart, about characters making some discovery about themselves and i wanted to use magic to bring those discoveries about. i wanted characters to be able to move on and through various

devices and then bring them all together at the end. we are talking about a city whose great era is passed. i mean, it's a bit like venice with the empire gone. yes, they're worn out. it's all worn out. tired. and there is an unhappy figure on the throne. this is a very familiar setting, in a way, for an historical novelist. a miserable young man and various families all struggling for power. to some extent there's always that basis in reality. you can't simply have, i don't know, walls disappearing in the middle of a scene. you have to have it as real as possible and then add that extra element that i've always fantasised about myself, which is the ability to do something extraordinary. that's what makes a good story, iwould hope. there's an interesting comparison between this book, which i think is the beginning of a trilogy, is that right? the empire of salt. well, we'll see if you can control yourself and keep it as a trilogy. it will be the first trilogy i've ever done. it might end up being four. you are very prolific. dunstan came out only two, three months ago, and that's

an interesting book, because it's set, as it has been you're wont up to now, in a particular historical period, in the england of what people misleadingly called the dark ages. it's told in the first person, which you've never done before. no. to some extent i do like to challenge myself, but i came across dunstan when i was reading dickens's a child's history of britain to my children, as i'm sure you do. he described dunstan, who was a saint and archbishop of canterbury, as a complete rogue and involved in the selling into slavery of a queen. so... you thought, "hang on." i thought this is a good character here. i thought if he's both a monster and a saint at the same time, then i've got another genghis khan, if you like, which is too strong. but i liked genghis because he was hated by his enemies and loved by his own family. i look for that sort of humanising quality. i want them to be rich and varied and interesting, as he is. and, of course, it's a very interesting period in english history. it is, is fascinating, because its book ended by athelstan, the first king of england, who also was king of scotland.

yes. yes, constantine came down. he had coins made with "rex totius britanniae", and a fair claim to being an actual king of britain. but, of course, that only lasted as long as his short reign, which is 14 years. it's 910—988, something like that. 400 years after the romans had been their for half a millennium. and, of course, you've written about caesar and augustus and the rest of them and this is the beginning, really, after a gap, of what happened after the romans had gone. yes, to some extent this is the run—up, of course, to 1066. these are the kings that people probably don't know, but they are the only ones with great stories. and the nice thing about dunstan is his life crossed seven kings, so he went from athelstan at the beginning to ethelred the unready and, through those seven kings, we have the beginning of the modern world. and you've told the story through dunstan's voice. yes. a wonderful opening line, i hope i've got it right — what is an opening line but a door being opened by an unseen hand? something like that, sorry if i've got... but opening lines are important. that's a good one. it is, but that's the

beginning of the prologue. the beginning of the first chapter is "i think i could have hung there all day if they hadn't broken my hands." which i... you see, for me, i do like that a little more. the whimsical quality of writing in the first person meant that i had this old man's voice. and as i was saying earlier, i had to cut some of that out, because you couldn't be too rambling. what's the difficulty of writing in an old man's voice? you're not an old man. no, but i've known a few. my father was 90 when he died and i'm familiar with the way they tell stories, as i heard them so many times. the trouble with that is an old man will tell the same story more than once. i was playing with the fact could i actually do that in a text? and the answer is no, honestly, you can't. if you're writing about a young man, described by the old man, you have to do the young man's voice, you have to to cut out some of the querulousness of the old man. yes. just to keep it tight and fast moving, because i do like the reader to turn the pages. because books aren't a representation of reality, how an old man would speak.

no, there's always a simplification. books are telling you a story about what an old man might do. yes, i think someone once said that the simplest real human being was 1,000 times more complex than the most complex shakespearean character. that is true. real people are very, very complex, indeed, and all you can ever do with a novel is to try and focus a single facet and try and make them as real as possible. talking about storytelling, i'm interested in something about your mother, who, i think, was of irish descent and came from a tradition of the telling of tales, which is a very powerful bit of the culture. her grandfather was a seanchai, an irish storyteller, who used to go from fireside to fireside and be rewarded with a meal and a glass of ale if he tells a story. it was a community purpose, this business of storytelling. oh, yes, it kept history alive. before it was written down... when i went to mongolia, they talked about the fact that they knew they were the distant ancestors of the north american native american, because they had been there 15,000 years ago, and they had an oral

tradition which went back much, much further than anything written down and that's where these stories come from. you were a teacher. if you were trying to explain to children who are a bit leery about history, or indeed novels, but particularly history, why it is that it's fascinating by saying, you know, how do we explain this, what happened, how do we know? my mother always said that, for her, history was a series of stories about people, with dates. to me, that's the absolute heart of it. people are interested in people. we are fascinated by extraordinary moments of courage and betrayal and love and despair, and history is absolutely chock full of those, because it's the story of millions of different people. it is an absolute treasure trove and always has been. and in this case, whether it's darien, a fantasy, or whether it's dunstan, based on, you know, a real man and a real historical period, the point about storytelling and where it takes us is the same. yes, i've been at the end of the day, its characters. i think kurt vonnegut says

there's this guy, right, and he's a pretty decent kind of guy and then something awful happens to him. that's the absolute essence of all fiction, whether its history or heroic fantasy. conn iggulden, now cf iggulden with darien, thank you very much. thank you. it has been a classic mixed bag today. the weather can't make up its mind. sun xiang and downpours, and that's likely to continue for the next 24 hours at least. —— sunshine. that's fine weather around as well this picture from northbrook. the further east and south you are, the better the weather today. —— from northbrook. patterns in the cloud formation, clusters of showers that are racing across the country. the

closer you had to do so pressure in the north and west, the more frequent and heavy showers will be. some of them real downpours with thunder and lightning, hail and rain. some places being affected by these downpours because of the rain last night as well. from the isle of wight, surrey and essex, this is a snapshot around 6pm. here it may stage right all through the day. the weather is looking beautiful with clear skies. the showers in many areas will continue past sunset. lots of clear spells developing across these southern and central areas. but in the north, with a clear spells occur, temperatures in rural spots as low as 5 degrees. these are the city temperatures. on monday, the low pressure is still with us. that means the overall weather pattern is not going to change. the closer you are to the centre, the more frequent and heavy

showers. scotland and northern ireland and the north of england, getting a good dose of showers. whereas in the south, dry and bright and a little bit warmer. in norwich as well. on tuesday, you still have showers. a continuation of the same thing. showers in northern and western areas but drier and brighter in the far south—east of the country. on wednesday, a low pressure approaching. a more substantial area of thick cloud and outbreaks of rain. that's going to reach the southwest, wales and eventually northern ireland during the afternoon. through the afternoon, we think the rain will be reaching northern areas. you can see some brightness, dry weather there across eastern areas. this unsubtle pattern will continue into the end of the week. the jet stream racing in our direction. this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm: president trump says china isn't doing enough to halt the weapons programme of its ally, north korea. police in australia believe an alleged plot to blow up a plane

was inspired by islamist extremism. four arrests have been made following raids. international trade secretary liam fox says free movement of labour after brexit would not be keeping faith with the eu referendum result. also in the next hour — a leading candidate and an opposition activist have been killed in venezuela ahead of a deeply divisive election. the poll to elect a new assembly to rewrite the constitution takes place amid continuing violence and an opposition boycott. the duke and dutchess of cambridge willjoin the prime minister this