where two opposition leaders have been taken to a military prison by the security services, a move that's been widely condemned. the un secretary general has expressed concern that the escalation of political tensions will make it harder to find a peaceful solution to the current political 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, styled himself a champion of the poor during his 1a years in office, pouring billions of dollars of venezuela's oil wealth into social programmes. the left wing government of his successor, nicolas maduro, has struggled to cope with with inflation running at more than 50% a year, plummeting oil prices and accusations of corruption. our correspondent katy watson has sent this report from caracas. antonio ledezma screams for help as he is 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 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 haven'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 seemed 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 no one else‘s but the concern is a global one. katy watson, bbc news, caracas. jennifer mccoy is a distinguished university professor at georgia state university and a venezuela expert and shejoins me now from atlanta. what do you make of this situation? we are in for a potential dramatic constitutional clash this week as we watch to see whether the newly elected constituent assembly tries to displace and take the authority from the existing legislature, or whether they will coexist. that's the first thing to watch. and secondly whether there are more political arrests as we saw with the two opposition leaders as they were hauled off last night, if more of that continues then we will see greater escalation and potential clashes in the streets as well. first of all if you could on that dramatic constitutional clash as you put it, how do you think that's likely to go? we had heard mixed signals before the vote on sunday from different representatives of the government and candidates for that, some saying they willjust coexist, others saying they are going to replace the current legislature and arrest them for treason. it's a little unclear but i expect that there will be a clash and the current legislators are saying they will have a sit in and will have to be dragged out. there we re will have to be dragged out. there were already protesters around the legislative palace today, but a few ambassadors from europe and from mexico have said they will accompany the current legislature, perhaps providing a bit of protection. do you see the arrest today of the two opposition leaders as a kind of step change and do you expect more? opposition leaders as a kind of step change and do you expect more7m certainly wasn't a conciliatory gesture. it's raising the stakes and it's one more constitutional step. at the moment conciliation, potential renewal of talks does not look very propitious. but of course, that can change. we've also seen a couple of more defections from the governing camp in the form of two of the legislators leaving the governing party in the legislator to the opposition. if more do defections occur within government supporters, officials or military then that could also change the game. talking about changing the game, mrtrump has game. talking about changing the game, mr trump has said there will be personal sanctions against nicolas maduro and the un secretary general is expressing concern. how do you think this situation might be resolved or at least helped ? do you think this situation might be resolved or at least helped?” do you think this situation might be resolved or at least helped? i think continued and growing international pressure and isolation may help to induce the government towards talks, but also providing incentives. incentives can include not only financial help, emergency aid, loans to help the dire economic situation in the country and the pending bond payments due in november, but also incentives regarding guarantees for a possible future in venezuela and a possible change of government, guarantees of due process and no witch—hunts and recrimination from current government supporters and vice—versa because both sides have to realise neither side can win outright. the country represents a mix of opinions and a mix of people and neither side can completely vanquish the other. professor, thank you very much indeed. thank you. 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, fentanyl. it's 50 times more potent than heroin and is the drug that was linked to the death of the rock star, prince. now dozens more deaths are being investigated. the painkiller is usually given to cancer patients, but it's increasingly being added to heroin and other class a drugs asjune 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 car fentanyl 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 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. in the past few our us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has been speaking in some detail about north korea's future and its 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 regime change, we do not seek the collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsulas and we do not seek an excuse peninsulas and we do not seek an excuse to send peninsulas and we do not seek an excuse to send oui’ peninsulas and we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel and we're trying to convey to the north koreans, we are not your enemy, we to convey to the north koreans, we are not your enemy, we are to convey to the north koreans, we are not your enemy, we are not your thread, you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us. let's get the latest from the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour in washington. a lot of concerns about north korea's actions and intentions and some tough talk from donald trump, even some tough talk from donald trump, eve n ve i’y some tough talk from donald trump, even very recently, but options are quite limited, aren't they? and we are seeing a more nuanced line from the secretary of state presumably trying to keep china on—board. the secretary of state presumably trying to keep china on-board. yes indeed. we've seen tweets from the president expressing his disappointment as he called it towards china, saying that they are effectively all talk and no walk and we effectively all talk and no walk and we also had senator lindsey graham, known traditionally as a foreign policy hawk, saying the president told him the threat of war with north korea is very real and on top of that mr tillerson has been the secretary of state for six months now so secretary of state for six months now so it's a good time to address all of the multiple foreign policy hotspots kicking off right now but most notably north korea, given that's what's escalating the quickest. so he reiterated his policy, which is what he has been implementing, which is working with china and building on that relationship and saying that china is in relationship and saying that china isina relationship and saying that china is in a unique position to keep the p i’essu i’e is in a unique position to keep the pi’essui’e on is in a unique position to keep the pressure on north korea but that it's not necessarily their responsibility to do that. so there's no specific policy change at there's no specific policy change at the moment, what tillerson said today he has said before about saying he wants north korea to come to the table, but the stipulation is to the table, but the stipulation is to get rid of nuclear arsenal and that those talks aren't going to happen unless the nuclear arsenal is no longer an issue. thank you very much for that. 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 bbc.com/news or you can also download the bbc news app. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a look into alaska's past. early map makers captured these images which were recently rediscovered for all to see. the question was, do we want to save oui’ the question was, do we want to save our people and the japanese as well? do we want to win the war and take a chance? the invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush was clearly caught by surprise. 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 very pleased that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question 110w international movement. the question now is whether the vote will lead to a split in the 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. the us secretary of state says his country is not seeking to topple the north korean government, but wants to open dialogue. there have been dramatic scenes outside a courthouse near the turkish capital, ankara, where the trial has started of nearly 500 people accused of plotting to overthrow the government in last yea r‘s attempted coup. a0 of the plot‘s alleged leaders were booed and heckled as they were marched into court. the bbc‘s middle east analyst sebastian usher reports. one by one, the alleged leaders of a 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, was seen in public it was in the immediate aftermath of the coup when their faces were bruised and bloody. there's no doubting the anger the attempted coup provoked, not only 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 ofjuly the 15th 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's 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. 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. explosions in afghanistan have killed at least 29 and injured many more. police say the attack was killed out by a suicide bomber and another attacker threw adequate —— threw a grenade. the mosque is in a mainly shia area. police say they tried to overpower guards in a courthouse lift and escape. investigators said the suspects managed to take the guards' weapons at the moscow regional court, but were killed in a shootout with members of the national guard once the lift stopped. china has formally opened its first overseas military base in djibouti in east africa. the event was timed to coincide with the ninetieth anniversary of china's people's liberation army. authorities have dismissed concerns about china's expanding military prowess, arguing the base will be used for defensive purposes. a brazilian federaljudge has confirmed new corruption charges against the former president luiz inacio lula da silva. prosecutors say two construction companies paid for extensive work at a country house in exchange for contracts with the state oil company, petrobras. lula da silva has denied the allegations and accused thejudge of political bias against him. 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 49th 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 that the bogra first didn't have time to produce conventional drawings, they photographed the land instead. —— photographers. it was revolutionary. the photographs would be shot in the fields to exact specifications. they would be processed in the fields and once that season was over they would ta ke once that season was over they would take the negatives back to washington, print them up and they we i’e 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 grand scale. a lot of times they would shoot the test role and then process that to make sure that the camera was working right, the chemicals we i’e was working right, the chemicals were fine. that's why you find a lot of these pictures are like candid shots of the men in the field. 0h, there's a guy hiking or posing, or there's a guy hiking or posing, or 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. ifound 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 and the right—hand side on the first picture, so i put them up to the light table and saw they went together. i only discovered that after the fact, what they were even used for, and that's why ina they were even used for, and that's why in a sense it was dumb luck or just serendipity that i was able to piece together so many of these into panoramas, because who knew? the survey tea m panoramas, because who knew? the survey team was led by a man whose pioneering work didn't end in alaska. from panoramic gate —— 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 glaziers he photographed in alaska 100 years ago have since receded. —— glaciers. visual evidence of the impact of global warming. for you single ladies out there, that beyonce song has become an anthem. 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 some 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 terry, janine and winn from melbourne. their parody of beyonce's single ladies has been watched at least 1 single ladies has been watched at least1 million times online. the trio are kicking up a song and dance to try to save their beloved bowls clu b 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 had 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 she says the club, founded in the 19505, she says the club, founded in the 1950s, has 600 members and is like a big family. we don't want to lose it because then where would we go? we have to travel and most of the ladies are older than i am, i'm 72. it is their second home. the local council says it is listening. no final decision has been made, but it is struggling for demand for sports facilities. the ladies hope their fancy footwork may just catch the attention of their new favourite scene. great on—screen captions! finally, that main story. the us secretary general says he is concerned the tensions in venezuela will make it difficult to find a solution to the crisis. two opposition leaders have beenin crisis. two opposition leaders have been in prison and taken off to a military jail. been in prison and taken off to a militaryjail. much more on that and all the news any time on the bbc website. thanks for watching. hello, there. most of our rain over the last couple of days has come in the form of showers, drenching downpours, that bring a lot of rain in a short space of time and then clear away. but the day ahead is looking a little bit different, because we have a more organised area of cloud that has been working its way in from the atlantic, associated with an area of low pressure, frontal systems moving in, which will bring rain. and notice the tightly squeezed isobars, as well. some pretty windy weather, especially around the coasts of the south—west, as we go on through the morning. so through south—west england and other southern counties, through wales, parts of the midlands, northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland, there will be some outbreaks of rain. the further north you are, that rain quite patchy, with brighter spells in between. across the far south of england, though, that rain will be on the heavy side. close to english channel coasts, we could see a lot of rain through the day. could give some fairly poor travelling conditions, and a lot of cloud and mist and murk across the south—west, with some quite humid air in place, despite temperatures only getting up to 17 degrees for plymouth. across wales, we'll see some patchy rain into the afternoon, but northern ireland brightening up through the afternoon. sunshine, yes, the return of some showers, but not the persistent rain. that'll be moving across southern parts of scotland. northern scotland has some of the best weather through the day. some spells of sunshine, 15—16 degrees. we're back into patchy rain across northern england, albeit with something a little brighter showing its hand in the north—west later on. east anglia seeing a fair amount of dry weather. into the south—east the rain sets in through wednesday evening. in fact, further pulses of wet weather pushing across the south—east and east anglia as we go on through the night. and our weather front still hanging back across northern scotland. so here we will see some persistent rain through the first part of thursday morning. but across much of the country, by the start of thursday, we're back to square one, we're back to that mixture of sunny spells and showers. the closer you are to this area of low pressure, so across northern areas, that's where we'll see the heaviest showers, the most frequent showers. quite slow—moving across scotland and northern ireland, so they could give a lot of rain in a short space of time, with some thunder and lightning possible. some showers in northern england, parts of wales and the midlands, towards the south—west. the further south—east you are fewer showers and more sunshine. in fact, many parts of south—east england will get away with a completely dry day on thursday, and perhaps again on friday. again, most of the showers up towards the north—west, where some could be heavy and thundery. quite a cool and a blustery day for many. and more of the same as we head on through the weekend. plenty of showers, particularly towards the north. a little bit drier towards the south—east. 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 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. 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 fentanyl. it's 50 times more potent than heroin and is the drug that was linked to the death of the rock star, prince. now on bbc, hardtalk.