this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 103m: the venezuelan president says he has survived an assassination attempt involving explosive drones during a live televised speech. dozens of soldiers were seen fleeing. nicolas maduro has blamed columbia for the attack translation: there has been an attempt to assassinate me. i have no doubt that it's all points to the extreme right in venezuela, in alliance with the right in colombia and thatjuan manuel alliance with the right in colombia and that juan manuel santos alliance with the right in colombia and thatjuan manuel santos is behind this attempt to. i have no doubt. adults in england will automatically become organ donors unless they opt out, under plans unveiled today. just under 40% of people are currently signed up, despite the number of people who say they support it being double that. we walked haley to theatre, said goodbye, i kissed her and ijust said go save some lives, hayley.

police investigating the disappearance of a midwife from staffordshire find a body and arrest three people. more than 700 firefighters battle a major wildfire in portugal, as near record temperatures in southern europe continue. also this hour: the veteran entertainer barry chuckle, one half of the chuckle brothers, has died at the age of 73. his manager said that barry chuckle passed away peacefully at his home. his comedy partner and brother paul said he'd lost his very best friend. ireland women's hockey team have made it to the world cup final — the first irish team, male or female in any sport, to reach a majorfinal. and at 10.30am in talking books, gavin esler talks to the chef and author rick stein on how british food has improved dramatically over the last 30 years. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro, believes an attempt

has been made on his life. officials said drones loaded with explosives were flown towards a military parade he was attending — they exploded, injuring seven national guards. the president, who was in the middle of a speech, was unharmed. shortly afterwards, he spoke of a right wing conspiracy against him, involving domestic enemies and neighbouring colombia. lebbo dissekko reports. president maduro is in the middle of his televised speech when this happened. the camera shakes, his wife looks up and then he does. the pictures then cut to soldiers at the event, who we see running. officials say two drones packed

with explosives had been flown towards the parade and exploded, injuring seven soldiers. and in the aftermath have come recriminations. the communications minister said the opposition was behind the attack. it's not hard to see why mr maduro might feel imbattled. police and anti—government activists clashed regularly, as protest continuing against what opponents say is mr maduro‘s increasingly authoritarian rule. the country has the largest oil reserves in the world but the economy is on its knees. hyperinflation and food shortages mean shelves are often bare and families go hungry. mr maduro says the current crisis is the result of a western plot to crush a socialist government and says the opposition is in on it. speaking after the attack, he claimed it was engineered by colombia and financed from florida. so while his detractors both at home

and abroad may beg to differ, for mr maduro and his supporters, these latest events prove that they are the ones under attack. joining me now is steve wright, associate professor in aerospace engineering at the university of the west of england. good morning. it does look like this was a drawn attack of some kind. how do you think it was carried out? —— drone. firstly, my heart sank when i heard about this. it's been one of these things which have been almost inevitable for a while now. the word drone has been heavily demonise for some time now. it's quite possible,

but quite likely that what we have had is off the shelves drone with explosives strapped to it. rather significantly, probably controlled by someone who was within a few hundred meters from the target. there are much more sophisticated drones out there. unfortunately that is about the extent of technology you need to carry out an attack like this. how would you defend against an attack like this? drones, people a lwa ys an attack like this? drones, people always ask whether is coming from, it's very much what i see as

21st—ce ntu ry it's very much what i see as 21st—century technology. it's a series of bits and pieces moulded together to make this new technology. a lot of it is based on mobile phones. we can defend against it. there are a lot of people out there, myself included, working on defences. the worry is that terrorists might get their hands on this kind of technology. the problem is it is so freely available to everybody, it's so accessible. the good news is that the very simplicity of the whole technology is also its weakest link. we can defend using that. in the simplest case, it's very tempting to think we will try and trick the thing out of the sky, whether using a gun on the ground or another drone in the sky. but that is not particularly helpful

if the drone is in a public space. we don't want to rain down pieces of debris. so the next level is we can try to drown out the command signals from the controller. and that is ok, it's helpful, you would hope to find a way to crash it safely. but much more useful is actively trying to hack a drawn in—flight and try to subvert the thing, fly it away safely and perhaps capture it as well. so it isjust like safely and perhaps capture it as well. so it is just like the technology itself. the countermeasures are also this 21st—ce ntu ry countermeasures are also this 21st—century idea of a whole series of different technologies moulded together, working in unison. u nfortu nately together, working in unison. unfortunately no silver bullets are

out there. thank you for your analysis. england could have an opt—out system for organ donation within two years — under plans being published by the government today. a similar system has been in place in wales since 2015, and scotland also has plans to introduce a scheme. currently, less than 40% of adults are on the nhs donor register. catherine burns reports. she was always bubbly there, weren't she? hayley louisejordan's parents say she was always fun but liked to plan ahead, so she was in her 20s when she signed up to the nhs organ donor register. her family thought nothing of it. she's gorgeous there, ain't she? yeah. but when hayley was 32, she had a brain haemorrhage. doctors pronounced her brain dead and asked her parents about donation. i didn't have no hesitation. we walked hayley to theatre, said goodbye and ijust kissed and said,

"go save some lives, hayley." public support for organ donation is higher. it's thought about 80% support the idea, but only 37% have signed up to become donors. in reality, only a tiny number of deaths are suitable but the government thinks changing the system could generate hundreds of extra transplants a year. last year, just over 1,500 people donated organs after their death, and that is a record high, but still, there are just over 6,000 patients on waiting lists for transplants so, under the new system, all adults would automatically be considered as donors unless they actively opt out. scotland is planning to do this too and wales already has an opt—out system but critics say it's too early to say whether or not that is working yet. some claim a better idea would be to hire more specialist nurses to identify potential donors and work with their families. detectives investigating the disappearance of a missing

midwife in staffordshire have begun a murder investigation. police searching for 28—year—old samantha eastwood found a body near stoke yesterday. a 32—year—old man, who was detained last sunday, has been re—arrested on suspicion of murder, while two other men are being held on suspicion of assisting an offender. the body is yet to be formally identified. 0ur reporter simon ward has the latest. while there has been no formal identification of the body, this is what people feared the most and officers who were searching for samantha eastwood made this discovery further up the lane in rural staffordshire. last friday, she was seen leaving the hospital where she worked as a midwife. later that day, staff raised the alarm

when she should not turn up for her late shift. police have been investigating the disappearance since then. 0n the day of her disappearance, neighbours are reported to have heard a scream that afternoon. 0n reported to have heard a scream that afternoon. on friday, hersister gemma made a further emotional public appeal for information. she said samantha was warm and generous with a great sense of humour. earlier on this week, 32—year—old man was arrested. he was then released. he has now been rearrested but this time on suspicion of murder. another 28—year—old man a 60—year—old man have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. the police have thanked the public for all the information so far and have appealed for anyone with further information to come forward. the veteran entertainer barry chuckle, half of the comedy duo the chuckle brothers, has died aged 73. seen here on the left, barry chuckle, whose real name was barry elliott,

starred in chucklevision between 1987 and 2009. his manager said he died at home surrounded by his wife and family. his comedy partner and brother paul said he had lost his very best friend. many people have tweeted to share their tributes. the labour mp angela rayner said the great entertainer made many people laugh. 0lympic boxer anthony 0gogo said that when he was growing up, he preferred to watch his show than do his homework. and the bbc broadcaster jeremy vine said simply — thank you barry chuckle. 0ur correspondentjenny kumah told us about the comedian's life in television. he was born along with his brother in rotherham, south yorkshire, and they first started their comedy career appearing on itv talent shows such as opportunity knocks and new faces in 197a. they are probably most famous for their programme chucklevision, which was on the bbc between 1987 and 2009. and well known for the catchphrase, "to me, to you", and it

won a host of awards. more recently, they appeared in a channel 5 programme called chuckletime, which was a bit like you've been framed and was them talking around clips of funny moments. there's been a statement i think from his manager. that's right. in a statement his manager says it with great sadness the family announce that barry passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his wife anne and all his family, and he adds the family would like to express their thanks to the many people who have been fans of the chuckle brothers and they know that they will share in part the great, great loss they feel. there has also been a statement from his comedy partner for 50 years, his brother paul, who says, "i've notjust lost my brother, i've lost my theatrical partner of many, many years and my very best friend." joining us now is emma bullimore, an entertainment reporter at tv times. thank you for being with us. just

talk to us about his contribution to television and to comedy and children's television. well, they w011 children's television. well, they won a children's bafta for contribution. they'rejust won a children's bafta for contribution. they're just pure silliness and joy. everyone loves them. everyone will be so sad to see this news because they were on tv with chucklevision for over 20 yea rs. with chucklevision for over 20 years. they are staple part of so many people childhoods. very slapstick, it might look easy to throw together but that type of comedy is a real skill. we had a twinkle in the eye and looked like they were enjoying what we were doing. it's so sad to lose that from oui’ screens. doing. it's so sad to lose that from our screens. there was a real bond between them. there are actually four chuckle brothers. the other brothers have another double act. you heard in the statement from paul

that he has not only lost his brother and colleague, but his very best friend. it will be strange for him to perform alone, whether he will continue to work in tv, we don't know. they will always be remembered for their timing and their catchphrase. it brings a smile to yourface. their catchphrase. it brings a smile to your face. and they had a long period at the top of their game on tv. absolutely. the key to that is that the enjoyed what they were doing. many people start in children's tv and think of it as a stepping stone to something else. they did not belittle it, they value their artform and work hard at it, took it seriously. paid off because scores of children over the years fell in love with them. they are so iconic. we will not be forgotten.

thank you so much. the headlines on bbc news: venezuela's president says he has survived an assasination attempt involving explosive drones. several soldiers were injured. plans to make everyone in england a potential organ donor, unless they decide to opt out, are set out by the government today. and veteran child ren's entertainer, barry chuckle, one half of the chuckle brothers, has died at the age of 73. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. thank you. good morning. islands woman, the second lowest side in the tournament have achieved the unthinkable. theirs has been the story of the hockey world cup. ireland's women, the second lowest ranked side in the tournament achieving the almost unthinkable,

by reaching today's final. they got there after a dramatic penalty shootout win over spain yesterday. the world champions netherlands now lie in wait. jo currie reports. ireland's unlikely heroes, their women's hockey team the first irish team male or female to make a world final in any sport. their semifinal against spain was already uncharted territory and they could have been forgiven for letting nerves get the better of them. but anna 0'flanagan got them off to a dream start, putting them ahead within three minutes however they were pegged in the second half by alica magaz to send the match into penalties. it takes nerves of steel to score in a shoot out but gillian pinder took it to another level, scoring for the second time in sudden death to take her team into the history books. theirjourney has been an incredible one, a team of amateurs have turned the hockey world cup on its head and will now face netherlands in this afternoon's final. i think it is safe to say this is going to go down in history and i don't know if i will ever play with a better bunch of girls. they deserve this, they deserve it so much and maybe the fact that we are amateur makes us take it a wee bit deeper and ijust hope that this gets the credit it deserves because we are in the world cup final, like, it doesn't really get much better than that.

so it's the world's number one side against the second lowest—ranked team in the whole tournament. ireland will begin as huge underdogs but with this fighting spirit, they will be dreaming of doing the unthinkable once again. action is under way on day four of the european championships no doubt what the performance of the day was yesterday in glasgow, adam peaty again breaking his own 100m breastroke record to take gold in the event for a third succesive time. he shaved 0.13 seconds off the existing time to swim 57 seconds flat, in what was a british one—two with team—mate james wilby taking silver. he now holds nine european titles, and after one defeat in the pool in four years, his domination looks set to continue. the second gold of the day came in the velodrome, ethan hayter winning his first major title. he came from fifth place to first in the 0mnium, with a superb performance in the last of the four disciplines, the points race. and there are more

medal chances today in the swimming and cycling with coverage on bbc tv, radio 5 live and sports xtra, plus the bbc sport website. steven gerrard takes charge of rangers in the scottish premiership for the first time this afternoon. they're away to aberdeen. and can can you believe it's only 11 weeks since chelsea won the fa cup at wembley? they're back there this afternoon to take on the premier league champions manchester city in the community shield. eden hazard was the match winner back in may. he's still with chelsea, despite plenty of talk about a move away from the club, but they do have a new man in charge, antonio conte replaced by maurizio sarri as manager. leeds rhinos have won the women's challenge cup for the first time, coming from behind to beat castleford. they won by 20 points to 1a, a late try from leeds skipper lois forsell settling the match.

they're coached by adam cutherbertson, who's expected to line up for the men's side this afternoon in their challenge cup semifinal against warrington. that's live on bbc one after the first semi between st helens and catalans dragons. georgia hall has given herself a great chance of winning a first major title. she's one shot off the pace going into the final round of the women's british open. and after some erratic long shots, hall's putter helped her to 12 under par, just behind leader pornanong patlum. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. many thanks indeed, john. the international trade secretary, liam fox, has said he now thinks it's more likely than not that

britain will leave the eu without a deal next march. in an interview with the sunday times, mr fox accused the european commission of being so intransigent that the odds of there being no brexit deal were now 60—40. 0ur political correspondent tom barton in westminster gave us his analysis of the comments. colourful language from liam fox in the sunday times this morning. saying, he thinks, we are heading towards an ordeal scenario. he puts the blame for this very squarely at the hands of the european commissioner and their chief negotiator michel barnier, calling the commission intransigent. now, while the language might be strong, this is to some extent on message with the government's broader point. jeremy hunt has been in france and germany this week saying the chance of a no—deal by accident

is increasing every day. that strategy really is about persuading european leaders that no deal, if it were to happen, would be bad for them as much as it would be for britain. liam fox today tells the sunday times that if that message is resonating around europe then that means that britain's negotiating position is getting stronger. let's talk about the labour party because there are wars in terms of the continuing row over anti—semitism continue today? —— woes. that's right. the deputy leader of the labour party, tom watson, today in an interview with the observer said that the arguments over anti—semitism are in danger of rendering the party unfit for government, saying labour risks disappearing into a vortex of internal shame and embarrassment on the issue.

—— eternal. he says the party was wrong to either change or remove four definitions of, or examples i should say, of what constitutes anti—semitic behaviour when they were incorporating the internationally recognised definition of anti—semitism into the disciplinary code. the labour leadership say all they have done is expand and contextualise those examples, and the point out they have reopened a consultation into the code of conduct. but just yesterdayjeremy corbyn wrote an article for the guardian in which he attempted to reassure the jewish community they promised to root out anti—semitism from the party. many people will see the comments from tom watson as an attempt to undermine jeremy corbyn. there is no doubt that the pressure on him over this issue will continue to grow.

police in london have launched a murder investigation after a man in his twenties was stabbed to death in kingston—upon—thames last night. the man was found in cambridge gardens and was pronounced dead at the scene. officers are in the process of informing the man's family. no arrests have been made. portuguese firefighters in the algarve are struggling to bring wildfires under control, as the southern european heatwave continues. temperatures have climbed to 46 degrees celsius, approaching the all—time european record. fire warnings have been issued across the iberian peninsula, as chi chi izundu reports. portugal — the latest country battling wildfire. some 700 firefighters are still tried to stop flames taking further hold of a eucalyptus forest near the town of monchique in the algarve. water—dropping aircraft have been assisting them as well as over 100 fire trucks. already, more than 1,000 hectares of land has been destroyed and one village has been forced to evacuate.

how far were the flames? it was about 500 metres from our kitchen. the terrain is difficult to access and conditions have been tough. high winds, dry land and record temperatures. this weekend, seeing more than 45 degrees. it's so hot, people are opting to stay in. but it's not just portugal suffering. a continent—wide heatwave in recent weeks has seen deaths in spain, droughts and wildfires from greece to sweden. several thousand homes are without water in nottinghamshire this morning after a major pipe burst. it happened in the village of epperstone but is affecting large parts of the eastern side of the county. severn trent water says it's one of its biggest mains, meaning people may have no supply or low pressure. tankers are bringing in extra water and bottled

water is being delivered. the nhs has been threatened with legal action if it does not offer fertility services to transgender patients before they start treatment. the drugs and hormones prescribed to patients can cause infertility, and the equality and human rights commission says patients should be able to store their eggs or sperm. an nhs spokesperson said the criticism is misplaced and policy responsibility lies with ministers. there were chaotic scenes in brighton last night after police prevented crowds of people attending the city's pride event from entering the railway station. thousands of people trying to leave the parade and a britney spears concert were held on the street after gates outside the station were padlocked. a spokesman for govia thameslink said they acted under police advice and train services were resumed in the early hours of this morning. the us first lady, melania trump, has expressed her support

for the basketball star lebronjames, hours after her husband made insulting remarks about him on twitter. the player had said in an interview that mr trump was divisive and had emboldened racists. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler has more. lebronjames is without any doubt one of the biggest stars in american sports. when he recently signed for the la lakers, it made the headlines, but he's found himself in the news again because of his criticism of donald trump. on cnn, he accused the president of using sport to split the us apart, and it's not the first time he's spoken out against mr trump. i'm not going to let — while i have this platform — to let one individual, no matter the power, no matter the impact that he should have, or she should have, ever use sport as a platform to divide us. in an angry tweet, donald trump fired back at both the basketball

star and the news network, saying: but lebron james has a surprising ally in this latest fight — mr trump's own wife. a statement by the first lady's spokeswoman said melania trump was impressed by lebronjames‘ work to do good things on behalf of the next generation. he has just opened a new school for at—risk students in his home—town in ohio. mrs trump made clear that she was open to the idea of going to visit it. i love you too, man, i really do. that's a sign of support from lebronjames, even as he feuds with her husband. the russian foreign ministry says it has appointed the american actor steven seagal as a special envoy

for humanitarian ties with the united states. he was granted russian citizenship in 2016 and has previously praised president putin's policies. the ministry said his new role is to help deepen cultural, art and youth ties between the two countries now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello again. most of us will continue with the drier weather today. what a glorious start to the day it was in wales. this was the scene for an early riser in gwynedd, the early morning sunrise. lots of sunshine to come for england and wales, becoming very hot in the south of highs of up to 30 degrees. temperatures near normal for scotla nd temperatures near normal for scotland and northern ireland which

these cloudy. some spots of rain for these cloudy. some spots of rain for the western and northern isles through the rest of the day. into this evening and overnight, rain turns heavier for western scotland. it sinks southwards over northern ireland. are drying out for england and wales. temperatures in london only slowly easing back to around 16 degrees or so. in the week ahead, we start off hot, dry and sunny, particularly for southern parts. more unsettled with rain and cooler later in the week.