welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: the acclaimed author sir salman rushdie suffers serious injuries after being stabbed on stage in the state of new york. his agent says he's on a ventilator and can't speak and is likely to lose an eye. in other news, it's been revealed the search warrant for donald trump's florida home was partly based on suspicion of violations of the us espionage act. ukraine and russia have again accused each other of risking catastrophe by shelling europe's largest nuclear power plant. and the bear that was sure of a big surprise. we'll find out why this animal was a little tired and emotional.

hello. welcome to the programme. the agent for the internationally acclaimed british author salman rushdie says the novelist has sustained serious injuries to an eye and his liver, during a knife attack in new york state. he was stabbed repeatedly by an assailant who pounced on him as he took the stage at an arts centre in new york. police named the attacker as hadi matar, a 24—year—old man from newjersey. our north america correspondent john sudworth reports. there was confusion and panic. the attack happened in full view of the audience. sir salman was left injured, lying on stage, and eyewitnesses in deep shock. there was nothing audible from the attacker. we just saw him move on stage very quickly and, repeatedly and with vicious determination, stabbed salman rushdie. people were rising up out

of their seats, gasping, crying and screaming and this unheard—of thing was happening on stage. salman rushdie was taken to hospital by helicopter. he had been due to speak at the chautauqua institution, a centre for arts and learning in western new york state which has long celebrated freedom of expression. a value, many observers pointed out, embodied by mr rushdie himself. here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power, someone who has been out there, unafraid despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life, it seems. the motive for the attack is not yet known, but the threat of assassination that sir salman has long lived under will be a key focus of the investigation. his book, the satanic verses, published in 1988, was condemned as blasphemous by the then supreme ruler of iran, ayatollah khomeini. the fatwa, or religious ruling,

was accompanied by a bounty in exchange for his death. now a country that holds free speech in such high regard is contemplating the shocking sight of the author, wounded for his work, being wheeled into hospital. video footage shows a man taken into custody by police shortly after the attack. john sudworth, bbc news, washington. earlier, i asked our news reporter azadeh moshiri for the latest on the attack. we do have an update on his condition, from his literary agent, andrew wylie, who released a statement shortly before 7pm on friday local new york time. it reads: he also added that salman rushdie, at 75 years old, is currently on a ventilator. the police have also released the name of the suspect. while they did reiterate

they do not know the motive of the attack and they don't know his nationality right now, his name is hadi matar, he is 2a years old and he is from fairview, newjersey. azadeh, salman rushdie has received death threats for years. tell us a bit more about the background to this. that's right. it's hard to overstate what a huge figure salman rushdie is in the literary world. it was a second novel, midnight's children, which was a huge commercial success. he said a bestselling novel was not his real goal, he wanted to do serious literature and it is what his fourth novel in 1989 was, the satanic verses, so much so that its impact forced him to go into hiding for nine years. the book was about many things but part of it was about the immigrant experience but it also had portrayals of the prophet mohammed and questions around the nature of the koran as well as a reference with the title to a controversial issue in islam that some muslims around the world found blasphemous and offensive.

it caused protests around the world, even in countries that weren't predominantly muslim and was banned in several countries. and that is because afterwards, a year later, this was the big event that forced him to go into hiding. it was when iran's supreme leader, ayatollah khomeini, the father of the islamic revolution in iran, mainly, issued a fatwa, a legal decree by a religious leader, for the execution of salman rushdie. as well as that of anyone involved with the book and he also added a $3 million bounty on that execution. what effect did that fatwa have on salman rushdie? well, the fatwa itself ended up forcing him to go into hiding. he faced 30 years of debt threats as a result of it. and it had serious consequences. even though in the late 1990s, iranian governments tried to distance themselves from it, certainly president khatami did, but the current supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei, upheld it, and he tweeted about

the fatwa and salman rushdie and it led to serious consequences, notjust for salman rushdie, a norwegian publisher was attacked, shot in the late 1990s, he survived. an italian translator was stabbed in his apartment in milan and ajapanese translator was killed as a result of this from stabbing. and so while salman rushdie ended up coming out of hiding, continuing his works, becoming a huge advocate for freedom of speech, it did affect his life, his works in a serious way but in the last few years, he said they felt safer and he didn't view the fatwa the same way. we do not know the motive right now. it's just the fatwa that's affected his life and works in a very serious way. tim bewes is professor of english at brown university. hejoins me from providence in rhode island. professor, a very good evening

to you on the us east coast. give us a sense of the significance of salman rushdie in the literary world.— in the literary world. yes, thank you _ in the literary world. yes, thank you for _ in the literary world. yes, thank you for having - in the literary world. yes, thank you for having me. | in the literary world. yes, - thank you for having me. first of all, they approach rusty's work as a literary critic, not as a historian. one of the facts about his writing, his great achievement is he places fiction on the same plane as history. wattimena by that is he reveals the degree to which history's main actors, if you think about politicians, celebrities, religious leaders, even terrorists, even, of course, profits, act out of ideas about themselves that are profound fictions, they are fictional characters stop that was a massively important insight of the fiction of the 19805 insight of the fiction of the 1980s and rushdie's work in particular. obviously the fatwa of 1998, with that moment rushdie really entered history in a way that bore out this deep inside of his work and gaveit deep inside of his work and gave it a hideous unwelcome significance. they would just add one thing to that, think

what has been unarguable is that during the 1980s salman rushdie, along with a small number of other british writers, completely reinvigorated the english novel, not only in the united kingdom but across the english—speaking world, especially in the countries that were formerly part of the british empire. and what rushdie's work in many ways created was a global community of anglophone writers and readers who were in conversation with each other, you know, not literally, perhaps, but certainly in terms of literary influence, the very reason we have writers such as zadie smith, monica ali, vikram seth, is a large part because of the influence of rushdie, thatis of the influence of rushdie, that is why midnights children won the booker prize, twice, in fact three times when it was voted for the best book is in 2008. that is what i think is really important. figs 2008. that is what i think is really important.— 2008. that is what i think is really important. as an indian born british _ really important. as an indian born british american - really important. as an indian born british american i - really important. as an indian born british american i don'tl born british american i don't use this word lightly, he

really did bring a unique angle on things, midnights children, you'd look at, talk about things like partition, in particular. tell us about the ridges on the —— and the breadth of rushdie's work. i think you gives english literature a new voice, a guysborough voice, and embodied voice. that new voice was not just this placement —— displacement of the old boys, the british voice of graham greene or some suwon, rushdie invents a writing that dispenses with authority itself, notjust a particular authority. an i think that is what makes him so important for the development of the novel, it is not a new voice, really it is not a new voice, really it is not a new voice, really it is more than that, it is a sense of the constructed nurse of voices itself. we like to use literary critics, we like to use historicity. rushdie achieves like that comedy historicity of voice, the

historicity of voice, the historicity of voice, the historicity of personhood itself. and you know what that really achieves is the dismantling of any sense of the authority of literature, not just a displacement of authority, but really of, you know, a dismantling of it. and, of course. _ know, a dismantling of it. and, of course, the _ know, a dismantling of it. and, of course, the work _ know, a dismantling of it. and, of course, the work that - know, a dismantling of it. and, of course, the work that he - of course, the work that he became best known for, the satanic verses, talk abouty that was so important. == satanic verses, talk abouty that was so important. -- the satanic verse. _ that was so important. -- the satanic verse. that _ that was so important. -- the satanic verse. that is - that was so important. -- the satanic verse. that is the - that was so important. -- the | satanic verse. that is the book that changed everything, the reason we talk about him today, but that got him in trouble, published in 1988, it is his undisputed masterpiece, it is all the things he was fascinated by in his work up to that point come together. i think it is his most significant novel, not only in historical terms what it led to, your guys earlier talk about those nine years of living and hiding under police protection, but also in literary terms. i think is worth specifying that. the satanic verse asked a particular question in the voice of its protagonist, how

does newness come into the world? of what fusions translations, conjoining can be made. this is really the line thatis made. this is really the line that is the most famous in rushdie's work. but what is significant, i think, rushdie's work. but what is significant, ithink, is not just the answer that the book offers, it is the very way that it asks the question, because the question is its own answer. newness comes into the world as a matter of fusions, translations, and conjoining. now, that is an answer that says everything about the significance of rushdie's work stop it is why he has been known as a profane writer. we see a lot of nonsense on social media since the news broke of the attack, that he was motivated by hatred of islam, there is no hatred of islam in rushdie. but he is profane, not as an anti— theological writer. the narrator of the sran —— the

satanic verse asked another question in his day mode, almost on the same page, how does newness survives, extreme and dangerous as it is, what compromises, what deals or betrayals of its secret nature must it make? that question and the answer that it contains applies, i think, the answer that it contains applies, ithink, to the answer that it contains applies, i think, to rushdie's own work. newness survives not through willing authority but by giving it up. that, i think, is the great lesson rushdie's work and it is one that we should remember in these very consequential days of which this event is such an exemplary instance. ~ ., ., ., instance. we will have to leave it there. professor _ instance. we will have to leave it there. professor tim - instance. we will have to leave it there. professor tim bewesl it there. professor tim bewes at brown university, thank you very much for making the time for us. . ~ very much for making the time for us. ., ~' ,, , . very much for making the time for us. ., ~ i. , . ., for us. thank you very much for havin: for us. thank you very much for having me- _ the warrant used to search donald trump's home in florida on monday has revealed that he is being investigated for allegedly breaching us espionage laws. the warrant, which was unsealed by a judge this evening, also shows fbi agents removed 11 sets of classified documents during the raid, including some marked �*top secret�*. the former president says he's the victim of a witch hunt

by his democratic opponents. our correspondent in washington, gary o'donoghue, has more details. well, this was an unprecedented move by the fbi searching the home of a former president of the united states. what were they looking for and what are they looking for and what are they takeaway? we now know some of that information. they were looking for information related to top—secret documents that may have been taken from the white house when the president left office. what they found were four sets of top—secret information, the highest classification that can cause exceptionally grave consequences for national security. they found other classified documents as well, photographs, they found some material related to presidential pardons and, curiously, some information related to the president of france. now, what were they looking for in connection with? this was in connection with three separate potential

crimes, the espionage act, the handling of government documents, and the obstruction ofjustice. now, no charges, no indictments have been handed down in this case. we are a long way off that. but all those crimes potentially have the possible jail terms of anything between three and 20 years. now, donald trump has come out and said he declassified all these documents, he was prepared to hand them over but, of course, he had been subpoenaed earlier in the air and he did not do so. all this does though is fuel his political base, it gives him a shot in the arm politically, and i think you will be hearing a lot more from this president because this gives him a platform on which to launch a potential run for the presidency in 202a. a drought has been declared across many parts of england, amidst the driest summerfor 50 years. temperatures as high as 36 degrees are expected over the weekend. our correspondent helena wilkinson reports near the village of creswell, a fire earlier this afternoon. it started in fields and spread to a neighbouring farm. people had to leave

their homes. this is west bridgford in nottinghamshire. they were still trying to put out fires. this is studland, dorset. dried out from the heat, desperate for water and reservoirs low, like this one in derbyshire. after nearly six weeks of dry conditions, a drought has been declared for parts of england. southern, central and eastern areas are affected, including devon and cornwall, kent, london and the east midlands. water companies can now bring in stricter measures to save water. when you turn on a tap or have a shower, that water comes out of rivers like this, that means we are taking it away from the environment or a farmer who could be using it to irrigate or harvest crops we need for food, so it's about signalling this is something beyond normal and we all play a role in thinking about where our water comes from and to use water wisely.

there are already hosepipe bans in place, with more on the way. from today, nearly 1.5 million south—east water customers in sussex and kent, are banned from using them. in some areas, there are exemptions. rule—breakers could be fined £1000. one of the areas banned is haywards heath in west sussex. this allotment has suffered after nearly six weeks with little rain and dry conditions. plots are bare, crops and flowers are drying. i have had excellent crops of broad beans. murray owns an allotment here. it has meant a poorer harvest and a depressing time of the year when we should be bringing in lots and lots of crops. i do have that longer term worry that it is going to put people off the idea of gardening. in fife, in scotland, farmers are being temporarily banned from using water from the river eden

on theirfields from midnight tomorrow. although not officially declared a drought area, in barry island in south wales, the warm weather has been good for business. financially, it's helped immensely. when we see weather forecasts like this, hitting 30 degrees, we can cope. we are now halfway through this extreme and there is forecast for some rain early next week but the environment agency says we will need weeks of rain to stop the drought affecting parts of england. helena wilkinson, bbc news, surrey. it's notjust the uk that's suffering drought — much of europe has also had weeks with little or no rain. in germany the lack of water is starting to have significant economic impacts asjenny hill reports now from the river rhine. this is the river bed of the mighty rhine. if you walked here in normal times you'd be underwater.

it's a working river, one of europe's most important. barges fetch and carry goods and materials through germany's industrial heartlands. but the water is now so low that some of the larger vessels can't get through. translation: we are approaching levels where ships _ can't enter the upper rhine. many of the bigger ships already can't go there. it's likely the upper rhine will be closed to traffic completely. captain kimpel is used to troubled waters. the river level does drop most years, but these days, he tells us, it's more frequent. the climate changing the river before his eyes. translation: it's no joke, | we have 1.5 metres of water and our boat sits 1.2 metres deep. so we have 30 centimetres of water left beneath us. few here can now sail fully laden. that means less coal for germany's power stations but the country is relying on them to get through

the winter after russia reduced its gas supply. this couldn't happen at a worse time for germany. there's a looming energy crisis, high inflation, so it's no wonder analysts warned it could do significant economic damage. there is a novelty here for some — the low water exposed this old footbridge. but for so many here, this new and altered landscape represents nothing less than a warning. jenny hill, bbc news. ukraine and russia have again accused each other of risking catastrophe by shelling europe's largest nuclear power plant. conflict near the zaporizhzhia plant has intensified this week leading to western countries to call on moscow to withdraw troops from the facility. there's been no sign so far of russia agreeing to that with some analysts occupied by russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war. john spencer is a retired us

army major and now chair of urban warfare studies at the madison policy forum. he gave me his analysis of the situation. so clearly the russians turned the nuclear power plant into a military base. they have based a lot of their systems and shelling from within the base so it's become a precarious position because ukrainians are having gains in kherson and other regions, and this is likely to be a very big front of conflict soon. so i agree with the un and the us, that we have to get ahead of this and turn this power plant into a demilitarised zone and just get away from it. how does one turn this into a demilitarised zone? so first step would be letting the iaea investigators in there as they are asking to get in there,

to determine the health ofjust it today. and you get both parties to agree there are no forces and no munitions, you basically draw a circle around it and extend that a little ways. it's pretty simple and logical and common sense, but we know there is one party we know that doesn't act like that, and that is russia. elsewhere in the country, it's been a while since we've seen russian strikes in the north and the west. does that mean russia's content with what they have at the moment or should we avoid being lulled into a false sense of security? no, i think the donbas and the east are still russia's main concern and it's where they applied most of their combat power. in kharkiv, we can't say it is safe, focusing

ukraine is focusing on the south, and having lots of advancements, russia thinks it can gain this big win in donbas but for weeks and weeks, they haven't moved barely kilometres, if at all. what do you see as being the next stage in this conflict? at this stage, it will be the liberation of kherson as ukraine continues ot isolate it and the possible avenues of reinforcement. we saw the strike into crimea which just put the black sea fleet at great risk because they lost a lot of russian air force cover, and it's important to the south so you will see a major battle in the south as there is a holding position in the east and ukrainians are gaining ground and in military speak we see the initiative — it could turn to the ukrainians even in the next couple of weeks. 11 people have been killed in

the balkans in a mass shooting in montenegro. the government has declared three days of mourning. the hollywood actress anne heche has been declared legally dead, but will remain on life support to allow for a possible organ donation. she was fifty—three. she'd been in a coma and in critical condition after being involved in a car crash a week ago. she'll be remembered for her roles in films such as donnie brasco, volcano, i know what you did last summer — and six days seven nights. for park rangers in turkey — coming across a wild bear cub is not exactly an unusual event. but for one team in the northeast of the country — their latest encounter was a little out of the ordinary. the animal they came across was a tiny bit under the weather — as the bbc�*s

tim allman explains. never has the phrase bear with a sore head seemed more appropriate. this is one animal that looks like it had quite a rough night. the female bear cub a little worse for wear was rescued from the forest in a province in north—east turkey. wobbling and winding, the animal looked... it looked like animal looked... it lookedlike like she was high. but why would she be in such a fragile state? time for a quick science lesson. these flowers are called rhododendron lithium and these are rhododendron pond to come. those contain substance called granite toxic which has hallucinogenic properties. at some bees to the equation and you end up with something called mad honey, a delicacy that really packs a punch. the

somewhat disoriented bear was taken to a nearby vet to receive treatment. she is said to be in good condition and will be released back into the wild in the coming days. white rabbit plays but this is one bear who shaw had a big surprise. she may be a little more discerning on her next picnic. someone will have a sore head in the morning. before we go, there's a story to bring you from rome where an eight—hour endeavour has been brought to an end for a suspected robber, trapped in a tunnel. he was believed to have been burrowing towards a nearby bank. police say the man in his 30s is now in hospital and has been arrested along with three others. dozens of emergency workers had to dig a second shaft to free him after the tunnel collapsed, bringing disruption to the roads around the vatican.

much more on all those stories on the bbc news website. you can reach me on twitter. thank you for your company and we will see you next time. hello there. it's turning even hotter this weekend with temperatures perhaps reaching 35, maybe 36 degrees. so dry, sunny, hot for most this weekend but in northern and western areas you could start to see a few showers developing, particularly through the day on sunday. now it's southern parts of britain that really could do with the rainfall, for example odiham in hampshire hasn't seen any measurable rain for 42 days — so the ground is parched here, we really do need some rainfall. of course the met office amber extreme heat warning remains in force for large parts of england and wales up until around sunday. again with those temperatures reaching 35, maybe 36 degrees in the hottest spots on saturday afternoon. widespread sunshine then throughout saturday, any low cloud

and mist in scotland and north—east england will burn back to the coast, maybe a slight chance of a shower across the scottish hills, maybe snowdonia, otherwise most places dry. high 20s in the north, 30 to 35—36 degrees across england and wales. through saturday night it will stay dry for most, a bit of low cloud, mist and murk rolling back across eastern scotland, north—east england. temperature wise, again the low to mid teens in the north, 17 to 20 degrees further south, really could be quite warm and uncomfortable across the south coast of england. sunday we do it all again. it's a sunny start, mist and low cloud burning back to the coast but then a greater chance of showers and thunderstorms developing across northern ireland, scotland into the afternoon, maybe one or two across western england and wales later in the day. the vast majority though will stay dry and sunny and very hot again, 30 to 35 or 36 england and wales, maybe a touch cooler, scotland and northern ireland around the mid 20s there. we start to see changes into next week, things

turn a bit cooler and we will start to see more in the way of showers and thunderstorms, that's because we've got low pressure pushing up from the south as we move out of sunday. that will introduce more humid air, so it could be quite uncomfortable for a while sunday into monday, but then you will see the shower and thunderstorm activity start to increase. initially northern and western areas, and then migrating towards the east. you will see temperatures very warm to start the week across the south—east and then showers, thunderstorms rattle their way through, things will be turning cooler, closer to the seasonal average, by the time we reach the end of the new week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the agent of the british writer sir salman rushdie has given details of his condition after he was stabbed on stage in the state of new york. the author is on a ventilator and can't speak. he also suffered injuries to his eye, his arm, and his liver. the search warrant executed on donald trump's florida home on monday has been unsealed by a judge after the former us president made no objection to the move. it shows the search by fbi agents was partly based on suspicions of violations of the us espionage act. ukraine and russia have again accused each other of risking catastrophe by shelling europe's largest nuclear power plant. conflict near the zaporizhzhia plant has intensified this week leading to western countries to call on moscow to withdraw

troops from the facility. so far russia has not agreed to do so.