welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: international condemnation of venezuela after the arrest of two opposition leaders. the un says the escalating crisis makes a peaceful solution more difficult. 50 times stronger than heroin: growing fears about the painkiller fenta nyl after dozens of deaths in the uk. a message to north korea from the us secretary of state, america is not seeking regime change, but dialogue with pyongyang. we are not your enemy, we are not your threat, but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us and we have to respond. turkey puts almost 500 people on trial, they're accused of taking part in last year's failed coup. hello.

we begin in venezuela, where the security services have taken two opposition leaders off to a military prison, a move that's been widely condemned. after months of violent protests and deaths, the un secretary general has said rising political tensions are making it harder to find any peaceful solution to the current crisis. venezuela has some of the world's largest proven oil deposits but 82% of venezuelans live in poverty. former president hugo chavez, who died in 2013 after 1a years in office, styled himself a champion of the poor and poured billions of dollars of venezuela's oil wealth into social programmes. his successor, nicolas maduro, has struggled to cope with inflation running at more than 50% a year, plummeting oil prices and accusations of corruption. the bbc‘s katy watson sent this report from caracas. antonio ledezma screams for help

as he's taken away in his pyjamas by the venezuelan intelligence service. there's panic, while someone else yells that venezuela is now a dictatorship. he wasn't the only one to be taken away, officers also seized leopoldo lopez, an opposition leader who was released from prison a few weeks ago but placed under house arrest. tensions are running high in venezuela after the election of a new assembly that will effectively rewrite the constitution. there have been violent protests in recent months and on monday former mayor mr ledezma released a video on social media criticising the weekend's vote. he called the vote a fraud, saying public powers had become a political machinery at the service of a totalitarian regime, a tyranny. leopoldo lopez also made his voice heard while under house arrest.

the supreme court said on tuesday it had revoked their house arrest because they'd made political statements and they'd also received intelligence the two men were trying to flee. but one of the men's lawyers said they hadn't broken any restrictions. at a press conference, mr ledezma's wife warned of what was happening in venezuela. translation: be assured that what is happening in venezuela is nojoke. the fact they've seized two fundamental opposition leaders, the events of the last three months, let that be a message to the entire world that venezuela is experiencing a massacre. it's a huge attack against human rights and human rights abuses are being carried out openly in our country. the un also weighed in, saying it was concerned about the escalation of political tensions. in this critical moment for the future of the country, the secretary general urges all venezuelans, especially those representing the powers of the state, to make all possible efforts to lower tensions, prevent further violence and loss of life as well as find avenues for political dialogue. but this is a country divided. avenues for political dialogue seem to have been exhausted. with these rearrests, just like the vote, the maduro

administration is clearly doing what it once without outside pressure. it is, as they say, venezuela's issue, and nobody else‘s — but the concern is a global one. katy watson, bbc news, caracas. daniel lansberg—rodriguez is a political columnist for the venezuelan newspaper el nacional and a lecturer at northwestern university's kellogg school of management. where do you see the situation heading in venezuela? thank you for having me on the show. this is a tragedy that has been long foretold. it isa tragedy that has been long foretold. it is a country whose political system was designed to run around the larger than life personality of

president maduro's predecessor. there were very high oil finances, they allowed the government to promise big, deliver less but fill that gap with personality and the ability to create programmes. those sorts of things, mr maduro, who inherited a series of bad debts from his predecessor and lacks the charisma and the connection with either the people all the military, has struggled to hold up a parliament that was designed for a different man. that break down is what we have been seeing more and more, both in plummeting approval ratings, chavez was at around 50%, which is where maduro began, but maduro is now at 20%. the people who

opposed the government or who think that another path might be better, they have gotten more numerous. the government has turned inwards. it has become far more authoritarian thanit has become far more authoritarian than it was previously. we are essentially seeing a clash between the unstoppable force of public opinion and the immovable object of the venezuelan government. where it goes from here is difficult to tell. venezuela is in uncharted territory in modern history right now. at the same time, there is a sense that until the government or opposition do something drastic, tensions are going to become higher. the possibilities for a democratic exit, rather than an undemocratic and potentially bloody one, is what we will see. a lot of people on the

outside of this must be wondering how the situation became so different under president maduro. just briefly, what is your best guess on where this will go? my best guess on where this will go? my best guess on where this will go? my best guess on where this will go would essentially be, right now, the government or regime, through the elections that took place last weekend, have essentially hijacked all powers of government. a constituent assembly under the president is stronger than in the legislation and the presidency itself. they can essentially do anything by agreement of the group. the structures that protected the government are as vulnerable as the national assembly, which went over to the opposition two years ago. that has precipitated the government's decision to seek the

constitutional referendum in the first place. that will create increasing tension. venezuela has had issues with the constitutional convention but also acts like the arrests today. there is really almost a testing of limits as to how quickly they can isolate themselves. in switzerland, they did not even pick a side in world war two and they have spoken out against the actions of the government, as have a lot of larger latin american countries in europe and the united states. it protects him from a lot of the undemocratic moves that he is going to have to continue to do, stronger and stronger, if he hopes to stay in power. i am sure we will be talking to you again. thank you

very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. explosions at a mosque in the western afghan city of herat have killed at least 29 people and injured many more. police said the attack, during evening prayers, was carried out by a suicide bomber. another attacker threw a grenade at worshippers. the mosque is in a mainly shia area. russian authorities say three suspected gang members have been shot dead at the moscow regional court, after they managed to overpower guards and take their weapons. police say two others were wounded in a shootout in the courthouse lift. a federaljudge in brazil has confirmed new corruption charges against former president lula. prosecutors claim two construction companies paid for extensive work at a country house in exchange for contracts with the state oil company. luiz inacio lula da silva denies the allegations. britain's national crime agency says at least 60 people have died in the uk over the past eight months from an overdose of a powerful painkiller, which at street level dealers often mix with heroin.

fenta nyl is usually given to cancer patients and was linked to the death of the rock star, prince. june kelly reports. the rock legend prince died suddenly last year at the age of 57. 12 months on, medical examiners concluded his death was due to an accidental overdose of fenta nyl. now the drug which killed this showbiz a—lister and has taken the lives of addicts across america is responsible for an increasing number of deaths in the uk. fentanyl is a painkiller used to treat cancer patients. it's 50 times stronger than heroin. it's been linked to the deaths of 60 people in the uk and there's an even more powerful substance, carfentanil, which can be up to 10,000 times stronger than street heroin. we talk about people playing russian roulette with these type of drugs. it's becoming an extremely dangerous game now with the carfentanil

addition into the heroine. sean, who does not want his face shown, lost his sister to a suspected fentanyl overdose a few months ago. she's gone and bought some and she knew what it was because of the dealer, as i said. she's gone back and gone into the toilet, she's gone over and they found her two days in the toilet. in most of the deaths, fentanyl had been mixed with heroin for a biggerfix. they are that far gone on heroin and other drugs and the lifestyle they lead, nothing matters to them. all they're bothered about is that relief, getting out of their head and getting away from world for an hour or two. fentanyl is so lethal that this is how police were kitted up when they raided a suspect‘s house. officers had to be protected against breathing it in. so why is it coming onto british streets? we believe this is partly down to the ongoing need for dealers to be trying to compete with each

other and sometimes introducing drugs into the marketplace that they believe might give them a competitive edge and might enhance their profits. fentanyl is what is known as the synthetic opioid. most of the uk deaths have been in yorkshire and the north—east of england. police are highlighting the dangers but have addicts got the strength to heed the message? june kelly, bbc news. the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has been speaking in some detail about north korea's nuclear and missile tests. president trump has already stated he's very disappointed in china for not putting more economic pressure on its neighbour and ally. secretary tillerson has now softened that line. he's also said the us wants dialogue with north korea, and doesn't want to topple the government in pyongyang. we do not seek a routine change, we do not seek the collapse of the regime. we do not seek an

accelerated reunification of the pulling chiller or in excuse to send oui’ pulling chiller or in excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel. —— peninsula. you are not a threat, but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us. the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour has more from washington. we have seen tweets from the president expressing his disappointment towards china, saying that they are effectively all talk and no walk. we also had a senator known traditionally as a foreign policy hawk saying that the president told him that the threat of war with north korea is very real. 0n of war with north korea is very real. on top of that, rex tillerson has been secretary of state for six months now, so it was a good time to address the multiple foreign policy hotspot is kicking off right now. in north korea, that is accelerating the quickest. he reiterated his

policy, what he has been implementing, his relationship with china and building on that. he has said that china is in a unique position to keep the pressure on north korea, but that is not necessarily their responsibility to do that. there is no specific policy change at the moment. what rex tillerson said today he has said before, that he wants north korea to come to the table. the stipulation is to get rid of their nuclear arsenal. those talks are not going to happen unless the nuclear arsenal is no longer an issue. the white house has confirmed reports that president trump did help draft a misleading statement on his eldest son's meeting last year with a russian lawyer. donald junior initially issued a statement saying the meeting was about russian adoption, before acknowledging he was actually offered damaging material on hillary clinton, to help his father get elected. the white house press secretary has

now said the president weighed in on the statement, giving suggestions as any father would. according to the washington post, which broke the story, some trump advisers fear the president's intervention could put him in legaljeopardy. the us senate has voted to confirm christopher wray as the new director of the fbi. he's a former senior official in thejustice department who served under president george w bush. after his confirmation hearing last month, he received unanimous cross—party support from the senatejudiciary committee. the post had been vacant since may, when james comey was sacked by president trump over the russia investigation. for more on events in washington and across the americas — head to our website. you can also download the bbc news app. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: can a bit of beyonce save this australian bowls club from oblivion? cheering

question was whether we wanted to save our people and the japanese as well and when the war, or a chance on winning the war by killing all oui’ on winning the war by killing all our young men. invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. and we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old, and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church is an

international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: venezuela is facing international condemnation after the arrest of two opposition leaders. the un says the escalating crisis makes a peaceful solution more difficult. there are growing fears about the painkiller fenta nyl, after dozens of deaths in the uk. dramatic scenes outside a courthouse in turkey, where the trial has started of nearly 500 people accused of plotting to overthrow the government in last year's attempted coup. a0 of the plots alleged leaders were booed and heckled as they marched into court. one by one, the alleged leaders of the coup were marched up to the court.

an angry crowd, including both relatives of those killed during the coup and some of those wounded during the violence, chanted demands for the return of the death penalty, which was abolished in turkey years ago. for some in the crowd, the treatment of the accused was already too lenient. translation: it is not normal that the state is feeding these assassins. we want to see them with chains around their feet. they shouldn't even come with civilian clothes on, but instead with their prison clothes. the last time some of the suspects, like the air force commander ak n 0zturk, were seen in public was in the immediate aftermath of the coup, when their faces were bruised and bloody. there is no doubting the anger the attempted coup provoked, notjust amongst president erdogan supporters, but many other turkish people as well. with the streets of ankara and istanbul coming under attack, and more than 250 people killed during the night of 15july

last year. the first anniversary of the defeat of the coup was celebrated just two weeks ago, with a huge rally in istanbul that was addressed by president erdogan, who inaugurated a monument to those who died. his position has been strengthened by the coup. his critics say that he has used it to target all his opponents. some 50,000 people remain in detention in connection with the coup. but the man the turkish government accuse of being behind it, the muslim cleric fethullah gulen, remains in the united states, despite ankara's repeated demands for his extradition. he is being tried in absentia, in this, the biggest trial so far of coup suspects. for now, they face life imprisonment if convicted, but the calls for them to receive the ultimate punishment are only likely to grow as their trial continues for the rest of this month. sebastien usher, bbc news. eight—time 0lympic gold—medallist usain bolt is due to run his last race at the world athletics

championships in london this weekend. since his first gold, in beijing in 2008, he has been an unstoppable force. he was even described by the international 0lympics committee as the greatest sprinter of all time. so what is next for the world's fastest man? i don't know what i'm going to do. this is why i think i wanted to play football, to change it up. you know what i mean? be a different rush. you never know which direction i might go. i might go into acting and do some action movies. that would give me a rush, so you never know. 150 years ago, the us bought alaska from russia for about two cents an acre, which looks like a bargain today. the territory became the nation's a9th state, revered for its beauty and wildlife. newly uncovered images reveal not only the splendour of the landscape, but also early experiments in panoramic photography. jane o'brien has more. when america bought alaska

from russia, in 1867, many people thought the vast territory was quite literally a waste of space. but, by the turn of the century, gold and other minerals had been discovered, and maps were in demand. short summers meant the topographers didn't have time to produce conventional drawings, so they photographed the land instead. it was revolutionary. the photographs would be shot in the field, to exact specifications. they would be processed in the field. and once that season was over, they would take the negatives back to washington, print them up, and they were able to produce numerous maps of the alaskan interior. that was useful for the railroads and everything. richard schneider discovered these previously unseen photos when the national archives took custody of the negatives. unlike the bulk of the images from the us geological survey, which were used to gather data, these were more like snapshots,

albeit on a grander scale. a lot of times they would shoot the test roll, and then they'd process that test roll to make sure that the camera was working right, the chemicals were fine. that's why you'd find with a lot of these pictures, there are, like, candid shots of the men in the field — oh, there's a guy hiking or posing, or there's a camp. and he discovered something else. the images were also an early attempt at panoramic photography. let's say i had this as a single image. i found out that maybe the next one in the series also had this mountain in it, except it was on the left—hand side in the second picture, but it was on the right—hand side on the first picture. so i put them up to the light table, and saw, son of a gun, they went together.

i only discovered that after the fact, what they were even used for. and that's why, in a sense, it was dumb luck orjust serendipity that i was able to piece together so many of these into panoramas, because who knew? the survey team was led by a man whose pioneering work didn't end in alaska. from panoramic data gathering, he moved to aerial photography, joining the allies in world war i to map enemy positions. and his work is still useful. some of the glaciers he photographed in alaska 100 years ago have since receded. visual evidence of the impact of global warming. for many single ladies out there, that beyonce song has become an anthem. and now three women from australia, in their 70s and 80s, have become an internet sensation by creating a unique version of their own. sarah corker reports. there is flash photography coming up. what does the queen of pop, beyonce, and the genteel sport of lawn balls have in common? well, nothing, until this. meet terri, janine and

wyn, from melbourne. their parody of beyonce's single ladies has been watched at least1 million times online. the trio are kicking up a song and a dance to try to save their beloved bowls club from demolition. they're hoping the video will persuade the council to rethink plans to build an indoor stadium on this site, and for some of the ladies, it was a bit of a musical education, too. one of our younger members, denise, she'd obviously been in pr, just cottoned on to the song, beyonce's song. and two of us had heard of beyonce, but two of us had not any idea about that song. and wyn says the club, founded in the 1950s,

has 600 members, and is like a big family. most of the ladies are older than i am, i'm 72. it's their second home. the council says no final decision has been made, but it is struggling with demand for sports facilities. the ladies, though, hope theirfancy footwork may just catch beyonce's attention. finally, that main story, the un says the escalating crisis in venezuela is making a resolution increasingly difficult. thank you for watching. hello, there.

0ver over the last few days we have become quite used to mix of sunshine and showers, but through the day ahead things are looking a little bit different. there is more persistent rain on the wake of some of us. you can see a satellite picture this area of cloud has been hurtling its way in from the atlantic, an area of low pressure with a frontal system being thrown before it. and it is this which is going to bring some outbreaks of light heavy rain in places. with that, some strong and blustery winds. could see gales for a time around coasts of the south—west or england. that rain crosses southern counties of england, through wales, parts of the midlands, northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland. these northern areas will see fairly patchy rain, even with the brightness in between, but down towards the south, especially close to the end this channel, the rain will be quite heavy and quite persistent through the day. could give some big puzzles, surface water and spray on the road. and there will be a lot of

low cloud, missed and murkiness across the south—west with some humour they are across the south—west with some humourthey are in across the south—west with some humour they are in place. 18 degrees in cardiff, some patchy rain moving across wales. but for northern ireland into the afternoon things will be brightening up. with some sunshine, the return of some scattered showers. more persistent rain edging in across southern scotland. but from aberdeen to inverness and up into caithness and sutherland, the northern isles, it should state drive a good part of the day. some spells of sunshine here. a bit of brightness perhaps the north—west england. most of northern england saying cloudy with some patchy rain. driver much of the day in east anglia, but that will change into the evening because rain will really set it across south—west england and east anglia during wednesday evening, at wednesday night and into the state. at the same time you can follow our waterfront in the northern scotland once the rain arrives here. it will hang around for quite sometime. but the most of us, first thing on thursday morning, we are back to square thursday morning, we are back to square one. thursday morning, we are back to square one. low thursday morning, we are back to square one. low pressure thursday morning, we are back to square one. low pressure in charge.

a mixture of sunshine and showers. the showers during thursday will be happiest when you are closer to the centre of the area of low pressure. so parts of scotland and northern ireland. here we will see heavy showers with the pale and some thunder. quite slow—moving, as well, because winds will be light. sows the northern england, the midlands, the northern england, the midlands, the furthest south and east to other more in the way of dry weather, and thatis more in the way of dry weather, and that is where we will have the highest temperatures as well. the sunshine and showers then continues on the friday. the best of the dry weather towards the south—east. most of the showers in the north—west. this is bbc news, the headlines. the un secretary general says he's concerned that an escalation of political tensions in venezuela will make it difficult to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. antonio guterres's comments come after the imprisonment of two opposition leaders. the uk's national crime agency says that sixty people have died in the uk in the past eight months after taking the painkilling drug fe nta nyl. it's 50 times more potent

than heroin and is the drug that was linked to the death of the rock star, prince. the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has stressed that his country is not seeking to topple the north korean government and it wants dialogue with pyongyang. he said, we are not your enemy, but warned pyongyang its ballistic missile tests presented an unacceptable threat. now on bbc news, panorama. i'm nigel 0wens. iam i'm nigel 0wens. i am an international rugby referee. you may know me for my no—nonsense approach on the pitch. i don't know if we've met before, but i am the referee on this field, not you. but you might

not know that i have had the eating disorder pulling you for more than 20 years. to on panorama, we reveal the growing number of men and boys battling eating disorders. the growing number of men and boys battling eating disordersm the growing number of men and boys battling eating disorders. is skin goes over the top of my trousers, that's bad. i feel like goes over the top of my trousers, that's bad. ifeel like that goes over the top of my trousers, that's bad. i feel like that should not be there. it's notjust girls who suffer