this is bbc news. the headlines at 12. the people of iraq head to the polls. the country holds its first general election since declaring victory over the group that calls itself islamic state. two british tourists are among three people kidnapped at gunpoint in a democratic republic of congo national park. the worst wage crisis in modern history. the tuc says workers are still feeling the effects of the financial crisis. mps and campaigners criticise a "lack of progress" on mobile connectivity in rural areas. also in the next hour, we'll hear about a novel plan to regenerate the high street in dumfries. a community group is leading the fight against decline in the town's centre, with hopes of drawing the crowds back to the shops. and at 12.30... how do we want to live our lives in the future? click visits an exhibition of the designs that could make our ambitions a reality. good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. iraqis are voting in a general election today, in a vote which could have an impact on the balance of power in the middle east. today's poll will be the country's fourth parliamentary elections since the invasion of 2003 that removed saddam hussein from power, and the first since the defeat of the islamic state group, which took control of large parts of the country in 2014. security forces are on high alert after is militants threatened to carry out attacks against politicians and voters. yalda hakim is in baghdad. what is the expectation?

security is incredibly tight here in baghdad. there is a steady stream of people coming here and they have been coming since the early hours of the morning. this is the first national referendum since the fall of the islamic state and that is what makes it so significant and historic. the whole country is on high alert. airports and borders we re high alert. airports and borders were closed and movement of vehicles throughout the provinces has been limited because of the concerns and threat from the so—called islamic state. there had been assassinations of candidates and also other threats on polling stations. as yet we have not heard any direct threats on any of the polling stations. but there isa of the polling stations. but there is a crowded field, about 7000 candidates and 329 seats. almost 40%

of the candidates are women, which is quite incredible especially because a lot of them come from places like mosel and fully java we re places like mosel and fully java were “— places like mosel and fully java were —— and falluja were a few years ago it would have been hard to imagine. so iraqis are optimistic. i have never seen baghdad so stable and secure and many people i spoke to say that baghdad feels more sta ble to say that baghdad feels more stable than it ever has since 2003. the kidnappers of two british mationals are demanding a £500,000 ransom for their release. the tourists were kidnapped at gunpoint yesterday in the democratic republic of congo. the pair were among three people who were taken by armed men at the virunga national park conservation area. the director of the park said a ranger who was in a vehicle

with the tourists was killed. the bbc‘s louise dewast is in the congolese capital, kinshasa. a little earlier she gave us this update. good morning. so what we know this morning is that hostages are still in captivity, so the situation is very serious. the attack yesterday happened north of goma, inside the national park which is a world heritage site known for its mountain gorillas, but also as an area where there are armed groups operating around the park and there have been kidnappings there before. human rights groups have been saying that about 50% of the kidnappings are for ransom in that area of the country. and this specific area where the attack happened is what we call a military area, means that the national army is present in the area, fighting against these armed groups, and are most likely responding as we speak to this situation. real wages, which take into account increases

in the cost of living, are still below where they were before the financial crisis, according to a new report. the trades union congress has found that workers in britain are experiencing the longest squeeze in real incomes in modern history. our business correspondent, joe lynam has more. more of us are at work than ever before and real wages are finally rising again. that means our spending power in the shops is going up but, according to the trades union congress, we are still poorer than we were a decade ago. using official data, the tuc found that real wages, which takes account of inflation, went up by 27% in the decade before the financial crisis of 2008 but in the last 10 years, they have fallen by 4%. it says the average worker will have lost around £18,500 in real earnings by 2025. the tuc, which is holding a demonstration in london today, is calling for a new deal for workers and public services. working people are now suffering the longest pay squeeze in 200 years.

on average, workers worse off in real terms, £24 a week. and of course it's going to take until 2025 until they get back to where they were before the financial crash. that's pretty shocking. but the government said the new higher national living wage had boosted pay for the lowest earners by £2,000 already. it said that it had cut taxes and was making sure people had the skills they needed to secure high—quality, well—paid jobs. joe lynam, bbc news. paul nowak is the deputy general secretary of the tuc and joins you now from the march in central london.

i should explain why you're holding your hand over your year, it is very difficult to hear down there. we can see the march moving behind you. you are drawing two things together, the wages and effects of austerity. let's talk about wages first. are you not certain that the signs are yet they are for your members of wages growth after this long period ofa wages growth after this long period of a wages freeze or in real terms decline? the factors that wages are not growing quickly enough. i7 decline? the factors that wages are not growing quickly enough. 17 years straight of falling wages, the biggest wage squeeze into a hundred yea rs, biggest wage squeeze into a hundred years, since the napoleonic wars, and it doesn't matter whether it is public or private sector, they had seen living standards fall year—on—year. 0ne seen living standards fall year—on—year. one of the reasons we are marching is to send a message to the government that we need a new

dealfor the government that we need a new deal for working the government that we need a new dealfor working people, decent wages and jobs, and the government focused on rebuilding the economy. is it possible that this is, the decade before when we said 27% increase in wages in real terms was actually the exception and that given our levels of productivity, not high in international terms, but this is the new reality, as unpleasant as it is? it is difficult to hear you but i think my point is this, it is not inevitable or irreversible. the government could raise the minimum wage to £10, the kind increase wages for public workers. i don't think it is right that people who go out to work are struggling to put food on the table.

in the last eight years we have seen an additional1 billion children whose families are below the bread line. it is not good enough. that is the message coming across loud and clear, as you can hear behind me. the message coming across loud and clear, as you can hear behind mem is certainly coming across loud and! (tx float) america says it will help north korea to rebuild its economy, if it agrees to give up its nuclear weapons. the us secretary of state mike pompeo made the remarks after meeting his south korean counterpart. he also said he was confident that washington and pyongyang had a shared understanding of their objectives. president trump and kim jong un are due to meet for talks next month. if chairman kim chooses the right path, there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for the north korean people. america's track record of support for the korean people is second to none. if north korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearise, the united states is prepared to work with north korea to achieve

prosperity on the par with our south korean friends. countryside campaigners are calling for action on what they say is an "appalling lack of progress" in improving mobile phone coverage in rural areas. they've been backed by more than 50 mps, who've accused mobile operators of failing to put up new masts. the government says 91 percent of the uk now has mobile coverage. phone companies say they often face opposition when they want to put up masts on green spaces. joining me now from our bangor studio is liz saville roberts, plaid cymru mp and vice chair of the all—party parliamentary group on rural business. what is your experience in the constituency you represent?m what is your experience in the constituency you represent? it is very rural and to give you a picture of the situation, i was looking at coverage maps and there is better

coverage maps and there is better coverage in the welsh community of patagonia than in my constituency. that is the kind of quality of service that people aren't getting at the moment. what are the main stumbling blocks for getting to a level where people can get at least as good a service as in patagonia? area is dependent on agriculture and tourism and many services expect people to have either broadband or a mobile connection. with agriculture, farmers must be able to contact from the fields, and with tourism people will arrive here with their own providers and we are effectively seeing where there is a provider there is only one and effectively it isa there is only one and effectively it is a local monopoly. that is not

good enough for an area dependent on tourism. is it a regulatory issue to be resolved or is it one that requires new law? at present what we haveis requires new law? at present what we have is this fallacy that competition is king and that will suit every region of the uk. it is not sitting rural areas. there should be a universal service obligation for all providers, not just local monopolies. we are concerned that the roll—out of the 700 megahertz in 2020, it still won't cover 95% of the uk. we are looking for a situation where 0fcom should be responsible for universal coverage and moving away from a situation where the commercial confidentiality of dividers is more important than having proper coverage. how much of an issue is

constructing mobile phone masts? 0ne of the consistent complaints is that phone companies struggle to get planning permission, even allowing for government changes a few years back. the emergency services network, now held by ee, if they worked properly incurred in asia with the other providers, we wouldn't have to have the proliferation of masts across the countryside, which of course like in a national park is something we don't want to see. there should be joined up thinking to make sure there is as much coverage as possible. the former italian prime minister, silvio berlusconi, has won his court battle against being barred from public office. a court in milan ordered his rehabilitation, despite a conviction for tax fraud in 2013. italian law bans anyone convicted of an offence carrying a jail sentence of more than two years

from serving in government for six years. let's talk to our rome correspondent james reynolds. the country has just gone through a very complicated general election in which silvio berlusconi's coalition of parties ended up the largest in parliament. does this have an impact on who will form the government? probably not. the biggest party in the march general election was the 5—star movement and they have made it very clear that silvio berlusconi, bank or no ban, can play no part in talks involving them. that is important because 5—star and another populist party the league

are in talks. there is another problem for silvio berlusconi. his right—wing alliance did well in the election but he wasn't the biggest party in that alliance, he was second. things to look so good for him at the moment but he will be happy he can get back into the field. if there is no coalition government there would be an early election and he would be free to stand. what about his image with italian voters? is he rehabilitated with them? i think they have come to accept who hears, at the age of 81 they know exactly who years and they realise he is and they realise he's probably not going to change many aspects which have made him famous. interesting prospect, the return of silvio berlusconi to active political life. the headlines on bbc news... voting is underway in iraq.

it's the first parliamentary election since the country declared victory over the group that calls itself islamic state. diplomats are working with authorities in the democratic republic of congo after two british citizens were kidnapped in a national park. the tuc says workers are experiencing the worst wage crisis in 200 years. downing street says the prime minister has reiterated to donald trump that the uk remains committed to the iran nuclear deal. in a telephone conversation last night, theresa may said the agreement remained the best way to stop tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. this telephone call serves to emphasise the wedge that now exists between the uk and america, between washington and europe, over this whole question of a deal that was done with iran three years ago. the uk and the us were signatories, amongst others, and the idea was iran would curb its nuclear ambitions in return for an easing of sanctions but president trump has argued for a long time that he thought the deal was a dud.

he said on tuesday the us was withdrawing from it but in this telephone call last night, the prime minister emphasised the uk would maintain its position alongside its european partners in standing up for this deal and also stressed her concern about the potential impact on british businesses who do business in iran and could be hit by this new wave of us sanctions. what's intriguing is that we have learned all of this from downing street. a spokesman for downing street giving us a sense of this telephone call. a spokesman for the white house who had seen the same conversation going on did acknowledge that, yes, the two leaders had talked about iran but made no reference whatsoever to this big disagreement on policy. worth also mentioning president trump coming to the uk on a visit in a couple of months' time. malaysia's new prime minister has said there is sufficient evidence,

to begin an investigation into the former prime minister razak nijab. it comes just hours after mr razak resigned from his positions as president of the umno party and chairman of the barisan nasional alliance. in a shock election loss, najib razak was toppled from power last week, and he and his wife, accused of large scale corruption, have now been blacklisted by immigration officials and banned from leaving the country amid speculation that they were planning to flee. mr razak has tweeted that he would respect the decision made by immigration officials and stay in malaysia. motorists are being reminded to expect delays while part of the m1 motorway is closed over the weekend. junctions 23a to 2a near to east midlands airport will remain shut until sunday afternoon. the closure is taking place so that a bridge to be put in place for a new bypass. there was once a time when saturday afternoons were spent taking

a trip to the shops, but online buying and out—of—town superstores have changed that tradition. in the town of dumfries in south—west scotland, the community appears to have hit upon a novel way to regenerate its high street, as our correspondent lorna gordon has been finding out. it's a familiar image — a high—street lacking shops and homes and getting emptier by the year. look at it. we've got more shops that are empty in dumfries than we have got that are occupied at the moment. this high street, though, is fighting back and evie copland is part of a group of locals leading the charge. it's a real sad state of affairs but we have got a dream to change the face of our high street and bring a bit of love back to dumfries town centre. and you are from dumfries, aren't you ? so this must be something you really care about. absolutely, lifelong doonhamer. i'm so proud to come from here. all i want to do is make it somewhere for everyone to be proud of. the challenges here are not unique but the people driving this project think they've hit upon a really novel way of regenerating the centre of this town. scottish land reform leglation could be used here in a way not seen

before and the community will be able to buy shares in the scheme too. it's an incredibly exciting project in scotland, we have a recognised culture of community land ownership, particularly across the western isles and in the highlands. this is taking the thing to a whole new level which is being watched by communities across scotland to see how successful it will be. and for people likejohn downson, one of a handful of residents left on the street, change can't come soon enough. i would really like to have some neighbours, you know? when i look out this window, i'm looking out sometimes in a desert and i would like to look at this window and see a lot of people living close to me because that's where you get a feeling of community and you're not quite as alone and isolated as we are at the moment. so this campaign, which started as an idea by local artists, now involves many more.

they do accept there are challenges ahead — finding absentee landlords, raising funds — but are determined not to pass the buck. people say, oh, but that is someone else's fault, the council should fix it or the government should fix it or somebody higher up ought to be fixing this problem for us and because they're not, we are in this terrible state but actually, what we found is it's really empowering for people to stop and say, maybe we can just go out and clean that problem ourselves. if people power works here in dumfries, others could follow, using land reform legislation to save their high streets and bring life back into the centre of their towns. a family have had a narrow escape after they got out of their car at a safari park in the netherlands. the group, including a woman carrying a child, seemed to ignore signs warning visitors not to get out of their vehicles, before being chased by cheetahs. staff at the park said they only became aware of what happened

after this video was posted online. the family managed to make it back to their car safely. the extraordinary to think that people get out in safari parks. definitely have to say to people do not try this at home. there are lots of signs and plenty of warnings. the mother is fascinating. how come she is. -- mother is fascinating. how come she is. —— how calm. it's the eurovision song contest tonight, and increasingly it's about more than just the music. the performances these days

are increasingly spectacular. although the portuguese say they're going to strip it back this year. but for many artists it's a life changing experience, as david sillito has been finding out. good evening, europe! and good morning, australia! hello to the rest of the world! and if there are any submarines passing by. all: hellooo! eurovision. it's a world all of its own and whatever you think of the songs, it certainly knows how to do spectacle these days. # cos i'm way up and i ain't coming down. # keep taking me higher #. and this is where it's all going to be happening tonight and what gets you about this is how big it has become. it has grown like topsy over the years. but at the heart of all of this are very personal stories of many artists who never, ever thought they'd get a chance to be on such a stage. # i'm not your toy. # not your toy. # you stupid boy. # stupid boy #. this is netta from israel, and she's one of the frontrunners.

the song, a rallying cry of female empowerment. butjust getting here has been life—changing for her. i didn't expect to win. i expected to get recognition, to get some gigs to afford my rent. you know, i had a — i had a hard time being me as a child. i was fat. i am fat. sorry, i'm still the same girl. and i was thinking "how can i be this skinny star? i have to be skinny if i want to be a star. it needs to happen. i will be beautiful when i grow up, i will be skinny and i will perform everywhere." and looking back then — me looking back — and i'm realising i'm the same girl. i look exactly the same. and this is big. this is absolutely — this is big. i feel sexy, i feel pretty, ifeel me.

i feel myself. # storms don't last forever. # forever. # give all you've got #. of course, it's been 20 years since israel last won. and for the uk, it's 21. # give all you got. # hold your head up. # through the storm #. this year, the bookies have the uk's surie at 200—1. but this is a place for outsiders and for netta, whatever happens on the night, just being here is already a victory. david sillito, bbc news. just for the record, david is not this year's british entry. a grandmother from stoke—on—trent says she was shocked to find a horse in her back garden. what she didn't know

was that her 13—year—old granddaughter had answered an online advert, appealing for someone to save the animal from being put to sleep. a few hours later the pony was delivered to her house. he's been named mr melvin andrews and has now been rehomed. a motorised garden shed will aim to break a world record on a welsh beach this weekend. this is the shed on wheels that will hope to smash its own 80mph record in carmarthenshire. it's believed to be only road—safe motorised shed in the world and its owner claims it's more powerful than many sports cars. and definitely more distinctive. now for the weather with stav da naos. it's not looking too bad this weekend. certainly not as warm and sunny as last weekend. but some areas will stay dry altogether, both saturday and sunday. there is some rain in the forecast. this will be affecting mainly the eastern side of the country tonight and tomorrow.

some rain will push into the south—east through this afternoon, showers will develop across parts of south wales and south—west england, maybe the odd one into northern ireland. central and northern areas should stay largely dry with sunny spells, and it won't feel too bad, particularly in the sunshine, 15 to 18 or 19 celsius. now, the rain across the south—east picks up, becomes heavier this evening and overnight, and spreads its way across much of eastern england in towards eastern scotland. the further west you are, the better chance of staying dry. some clear spells, it will also be cool in one or two rural spots. sunday morning, a bright start across the west, cloudy with outbreaks of rain further east. the good news is it will start to brighten up and dry out across the south—east with the rain becoming confined to the north—east of scotland. but not a bad afternoon for most. this is bbc news.

our latest headlines. voting is underway in iraq's general election. security forces have been on alert after militants threatened attacks on politicians and voters. two british tourists are among three people kidnapped in a national park in the democratic republic of congo. the foreign office said it is working with authorities in the country. the tuc has warned workers are still facing an earnings crisis. its research found the wage squeeze since 2008 has been the worst in 200 years. mps are calling for better mobile signals in rural areas. a letter to the department for digital, culture, media and sport criticises what they call an "appalling lack of

progress" on connectivity. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. good afternoon. after the weather washed them out yesterday ireland are finally getting stuck in in their first ever test match against pakistan and charles dagnall is there for us. so much disappointment, the amount of work that had gone into making it a real festival occasion for the test match debut of ireland, against pakistan, and everybody was so disappointed with the weather yesterday but it is much better, blue skies and glorious sunshine. we might get a shower later but the forecast is good so rather than a five—day test match, it is for matt gohdes and at least they have a good chance of going into the fifth day. —— it is four days. what a baptism in terms of test match cricket against pakistan.

how confident can ireland be? very competitive, that is a golden generation for them with a lot of players with a huge amount of county cricket experience. but they are ageing. what is a test for them is infouror ageing. what is a test for them is in four orfive years, ageing. what is a test for them is in four or five years, who they are bringing through and the youngsters they had to replace people at the brya n they had to replace people at the bryan brothers, ed joyce, boyd rankin, william porterfield. —— the 0'brien others. that is for another time but right now they have a very good chance. they will be hugely excited but pakistan are quite a prospect with a fearsome pace attack and an exciting young leg—spinner in shadab khan. it depends a lot on the pitch. i think and william porterfield think that they can win this match and cause an upset. this is how they are getting on. they won the