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 western countries to call on moscow to withdraw troops from the facility.

so far russia has not agreed to do so. here in the uk, a drought has been declared across many parts of england, amidst the driest summerfor 50 years. the announcement covers much of the south—west, parts of southern, central and eastern england. it means more hosepipe bans are likely, and water companies could bring in even stricter measures, including a ban on non—essential water use. 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.

and 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 away from a farmer who could be using it to irrigate or harvest crops we all need for food, so it's about signalling this is something beyond normal and actually 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 now

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. ——dying. i have had excellent crops of broad beans... murray owns an allotment here. it has meant a poorer harvest, and a depressing time of year when we should be bringing in lots and lots of crops. and 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 us immensely.

i've come here to investigate the disappearance of a woman. under the last government, alia azizi was a successful career woman as a high—ranking prison officer. hard—won freedoms are being rolled back following the taliban's victory. women have been forced out of the workplace. since the taliban returned to power, the inmates she had been guarding are now running the prison.

alia left work, assuming her career was over, but to her surprise, she was called back to herjob. then a month later, she disappeared. i want to find out what happened to her and what the taliban authorities are doing about it. herfamily hasn't heard from her for eight months. i visited their home in herat, western afghanistan. inaudible dialogue

until the return of the taliban, alia had been the family's main breadwinner.

alia's eldest son also worked at the prison, but was not called back by the taliban.

the family reported alia missing in october. the taliban said they would investigate, but no information has come to light in eight months.

seeing a little boy separated from his mother was absolutely gut—wrenching to watch. and for him to describe how he can't go to bed at night because he wants his mum... ..was really, really difficult to see. the fact that alia can be missing for eight months without a single bit of information as to where she has gone sends a very worrying message to other women living and working under the taliban's afghanistan. one year ago, i spoke with taliban leader suhail shaheen in doha, just before the takeover. he assured me that they would protect the rights of women

and that the new regime would be different from what we saw in the �*90s. there was in the past some mistakes that we have learned from to stop education of women and girls. that is not our goal. of course, education is their right, and it is much needed. and when they receive education, of course they have a right to work. how has that promise turned out? that evening, i met a group of women who used to hold positions of power in the former government. but since losing theirjobs, they've shifted their attention to investigating various cases of missing women like alia azizi.

it was becoming clear that disappearing women was not uncommon in today's afghanistan. as the activists said, there are reports of many more cases happening around the country. it's impossible to find a credible statistic on the number of women forcibly disappeared in afghanistan, mainly because the taliban have continued to deny such cases. when the taliban came to power, they assured the women

of afghanistan that their rights would be protected under their rule. i travelled to herat central prison, the last place alia was seen, and where she has worked for the past seven years to see if they were willing to offer any information. the guards made it very clear that i was not going to be allowed into the female section, but i managed to ask some questions of the prison director. the international community is really worried about a woman who used to run that prison and was told by the taliban to come back to work,

and she happily went back to work. but for the past eight months, she's been missing. what do you know about that case? when an employee goes missing, do you think it's the responsibility of the authorities to help track her down? some are pointing the finger of blame at the taliban for her disappearance.

the new prison warden said the case had nothing to do with them because alia went missing after leaving the prison grounds. it didn't make any sense that she would have fled the country without telling her family or saying goodbye. after leaving the prison, somebody approached me who wanted to remain anonymous, stating that alia had been abducted by a criminal group who were hoping to release her in exchange for a ransom. i wanted to speak to her son rahmatullah to see what he made of this theory.

rahmatullah had little choice but to rely on the taliban leaders to investigate and find his mother. to find out more, back in kabul, i arranged a meeting at the ministry of interior, which is responsible for enforcing the law and fighting crime within afghanistan.

for the last nine months, alia azizi, a policewoman in herat, has completely disappeared. she's gone missing. can you tell me what you know about this case? we went to herat and we went to the prison where she worked, and the authorities there confirmed that she actually came to work at the prison for well over a month. so, you are saying that the taliban authorities in herat, they're wrong?

the taliban prison authorities that we went to see told me

that they saw her at work for well over a month. why would they tell us something different to what they've told you? whether you agree the taliban were responsible or not, you are now in power. you are the authorities here. is it not your responsibility to fact—find, investigate and try and get to the bottom of her case?

it has become clear that there isn't much of an investigation going on. and they may have sent a few people to herat, but nothing much more was done about it. i felt it was important to take this issue higher up the chain of command in the taliban. during an interview over the phone, i asked the group's designated ambassador

to the un, suhail shaheen. i asked him whether he felt that the investigation into alia's disappearance had been properly conducted. i think she was working in a prison, right? yes, that's right. she was working at the prison. and we spoke to the taliban commanders who are now running the prison. they said that she came to work for about a month and they saw her every day coming to work, but then she suddenly disappeared. when i spoke to the spokesperson for the interior ministry in kabul, they said that she herself has made herself disappear only a couple of days after the taliban took control. who is lying to us? because those in herat are saying one thing and kabul is saying another. yes. so, let me check with the interior ministry because, first of all, i should know about it.

the story was. . .they told me was we have nothing to do with that, there is a general amnesty and she was working. and maybe...members of daesh, or isis, has kidnapped her, because at that time, this kidnapping by daesh was prevalent. even if daesh has taken this person or it's a criminal gang, how worrying is it for you, though, that this would happen under your watch? yes. it is our obligation to carry out investigation. yes, we will... we have done this and we will do this. and i will reach out with the authorities, what is the result of the investigation. he has come up with yet another theory about what's happened to alia azizi. so, we heard from those in the prison in herat that it could be criminal gangs. the spokesperson for the minister of interior says she's chosen to go underground because she has some information about the taliban.

and now another theory, that it could potentially be isis or daesh. and i'm not sure that he's telling us this with any kind of real understanding of the case, but just casually giving us another theory. it seems like they would rather people stop asking questions about her than actually investigate and find out what's happened to alia azizi. this is afghanistan, one year into taliban rule. ayearago, women's lives were radically transformed overnight. they've been driven out of work, into their homes, afraid to even step onto the street alone. women like alia disappear, and the authorities don't seem to be the least bit concerned. if the taliban want us to believe that this time,

their rule will be different, they'll need to provide actions to meet their words. hello there. the peak of his current heatwave across england and wales will be reached during saturday afternoon. i was around 36 degrees. it is a hot recant generally. the met

office extreme heat warning remains in force until the end of sunday. there will be plenty of sunday. there will be plenty of sunshine up and down the country. maybejust of sunshine up and down the country. maybe just an old isolated shower. there are your temperatures. high 20s in the north, low to mid 30s england and wales. an increasing chance of showers in northern ireland and scotland during the day. a few showers developing across central west in england and wales. another very hot day in the south. maybe a bit fresh across scotland and northern ireland. next week, taller and fresher and increasing chance of thundery showers.

this is 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. what europe's heatwave has done to the river rhine: we report on the economic impact of this record summer. and the bear that was sure of a big surprise: we'll find out why this animal was a little tired and emotional.