this is bbc news. i'm luxmy gopal and these are the latest headlines. writers and politicians condemn an attack on acclaimed author, sir salman rushdie, who's now on a ventilator, after being stabbed on stage in the us state of new york. his agent says the 75—year—old can't speak, is likely to lose an eye, has a damaged liver, and the nerves in one arm have been severed in the attack. more extreme heat is expected in the southern half of the uk over the next two days. that, as experts also warn england's drought could last into the next year. travel disruption after thousands of train drivers from 9 rail companies go on strike across the uk today. it's the latest walk—out in a row over pay and conditions. documents in the us show fbi agents seized papers marked "top secret" when they searched the florida home

of the former president donald trump on monday. the search warrant shows he's being investigated over possible violations of the espionage act. the 82—year—old who reaches new heights. nick gardner scales the final peak to complete his mission to climb all of scotland's 282 munros. good afternoon. the agent for sir salman rushdie says he remains on a ventilator and may lose an eye, after he was stabbed repeatedly on stage at an event in new york state yesterday. sir salman, who's 75, has been the subject of death threats from islamists since the release of his book, the satanic verses, in 1988. a man has been arrested. nomia iqbal sent this report.

the attack happened in full view of an audience. there was panic and confusion, as sir salman rushdie lay injured on the stage after being stabbed. the suspectjumped onto the stage and attacked mr rushdie, stabbing him at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen. sir salman was rushed to hospital and taken by helicopter to the neighbouring state of pennsylvania. he was due to speak at the chautauqua institute, a centre for arts and learning in western new york, which celebrates freedom of expression — a value many praise sir salman for having. here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power. someone who's been out there, unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life, it seems. prime minister borisjohnson tweeted he was appalled that the author was stabbed while exercising a right that must always be defended. a 24—year—old man named hadi matar was arrested and taken into custody.

police have carried out a raid at his home in newjersey. the motive is not known, but sir salman has long lived under the threat of being killed, and had to go into hiding for nearly ten years. his book the satanic verses, published in 1988, was condemned as blasphemous by many muslim countries. they considered his portrayal of islam insulting. iran's spiritual leader at the time called for sir salman�*s execution, offering a £2.5 million reward. iran has now distanced itself from that, but the bounty remains. sir salman rushdie has spent a major part of his life protecting himself from extremist threats, to only now find himself inside this hospital. in a statement, his agent says the author will likely lose an eye and is currently being supported by a ventilator. nomia iqbal, bbc news, pennsylvania.

our north america correspondent nomia iqbal who was outside the hospital where salman rushdie is being treated in erie, pennyslvania spoke to us earlier. we are still waiting to get an update. we are expecting to hear from the hospital at some point today, certainly over the weekend. the last we heard was that the statement given by sir salman rushdie�*s agent in which he quotes it is not good news. he said mr rushdie is likely to lose an eye. the nerves in one arm have been severed. he is currently on a ventilator and cannot speak. this hospital here, obviously neighbouring new york state where mr rushdie was airlifted, has some of the most advanced facilities when it comes to treating people with trauma. he underwent surgery, we know he is on a ventilator. any update we will bring to you.

there has been shock around the world, what about more locally locally in that area, given that that is where given that that is where the attack happened? what has the reaction been like there? as frank said, this event that happened in new york state, it is a summer event that you get writers and artists, security is very relaxed and it is the last place anywhere would worry about their safety. there is a huge amount of shock that something like this could have happened and of course to sir salman, but we know that he lived under the threat of being attacked for many years. it is worth mentioning that in recent years, he himself became quite relaxed about security. i interviewed him at a literature

festival in the uk and he turned up with his son, his agent, i asked him where his security was and he almost brushed off and said those risks were of the past and throughout the �*90s he was one of the most endangered authors but he wanted to live his life more freely so the fact this is someone who has protected himself for years from these threats to find himself here in this hospital is quite something. but it is a great sense of shock that has been expressed by those writers and also the tweets that we are seeing coming out from world leaders as well. we have a development on that story now. just coming in the past few minutes from reuters. the man suspected of that attack on salman rushdie has been charged with attempted murder and assault. that

has come from prosecutors there and we have got a quote from the county district attorney who says, "the individual responsible for the attack yesterday, hadi matar, has been formally charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. he was arraigned on these charges last night and remanded without bail." that statement just coming night and remanded without bail." that statementjust coming through and that is according to reuters, that has come through in the past few minutes. the environment agency has warned that the drought declared in many parts of england could last into next year. the official declaration yesterday, is expected to trigger stricter controls on water use, such as hosepipe bans. yesterday's drought announcement covers much of the south west, parts of southern, central and eastern england. kathryn stanczyszyn reports from hinckley in leicestershire. large swathes of countryside look scorched and yellow at the moment, after the driest summer in decades. eight areas of england have now been officially designated as being in drought.

some, like the south—east, already with water restrictions in place. others expecting them to be brought in soon. even where hosepipe bans aren't yet being enforced, companies are asking users to be more mindful of their water consumption as reservoirs slowly but steadily recede. and for some farmers, it means a much tougher year than expected. it's just like the sahara desert out there. we're having to feed the winter rations, silage, to the cattle now. and by the end of the summer, we'll be halfway through that and we're going to have to source it from somewhere else and i don't know where yet. hopefully it'll rain very soon. the extreme dry weather brings another risk — fire. services across the country are dealing with tinder dry conditions that are more difficult to control if a blaze breaks out. and that means a usual favourite hot

weather pursuit poses a threat. we've had some stories of some reckless incidents, some disposable barbecues that fortunately some of the main retailers have stopped selling now, which we're extremely grateful for. because that will hopefully reduce the risk. but things like disposable barbecues and bonfires in back gardens that can spread onto sheds and fences and houses, so please, please don't do things like that. the national drought group says essential water supplies are safe and moving to drought status means action can now be stepped up to keep it that way. experts say we will need at least average rainfall this autumn to restore levels to where they should be and prevent the same happening next year. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news. rail passengers are being warned to expect severe disruption today. around 6,500 train drivers at 9 rail companies, who are members of the aslef union, are walking out again, in a dispute about pay. our business correspondent, ramzan karmali, reports. a sight that has become a familiar one this summer.

this time, it's the train drivers, members of the aslef union, on the picket line at euston station. it's completely shut and it's caught some travellers out. no, i'm not going home today. i was going to go home on thursday, but i can't because of the strikes, so i'm going home on tuesday instead. it's annoying that the general public has to get inconvenienced, but i understand where they are coming from. i'm trying to get back to the town of buckingham so i can— resume my studies next monday, but i don't know that euston- is completely closed right now. nine train companies are impacted by today's strike. aslef have consistently said this dispute centres on pay and the rising costs their members are facing. they should come to the table and offer a decent pay rise, that's what we do. we talk to our employers about our terms, conditions, our wages in the context of where the economy is at that point in time. and at this point in time, we know where the cost of living crisis is, and rail workers and all workers deserve a decent pay rise.

the train companies say that revenues have fallen sharply and insist that reform is needed first before any pay settlements are agreed to. we can look at reform, when we can see what type of reform we are able to get. that then frees up money. we do want to give our staff a pay increase, it's not that we don't want to do that, but we need to generate money to do that. disruption from today's action is likely to spill over into tomorrow. however, formal talks between aslef and the train companies will take place for the first time next week. perhaps a glimmer of hope in this dispute. but on thursday, commuters will face more industrial action as the rmt and tssa unions begin strike action too. it doesn't look like the end of the summer of strikes will come any time soon. ramzan karmali, bbc news. joining me now from leeds railway station is our news correspondent phillip norton.

how have the strikes affected leeds station today? we how have the strikes affected leeds station today?— station today? we have been here most of the _ station today? we have been here most of the day _ station today? we have been here most of the day now, _ station today? we have been here most of the day now, you - station today? we have been here most of the day now, you can - most of the day now, you can probably see there are still some services operating from the station because this is in the north of england a major hub. northern trains and transpennine express are among the operators who are not affected by the strike action today so there services are running relatively normally. there are people passing through the station, but it is quieter than it might normally be because the long—distance services that run from here which are operated by lner and cross—country which are affected by the strike action today are not running. cross—country have no services at all running through today. lner which has regular services to london from here only has two today, one went this morning down to london and another one is probably leaving london about now due to arrive later teatime today. i have also been speaking to some passengers here in the past couple of hours. they were on the whole telling me that they

support the strike action by the drivers, but i did find one person who told me it is causing major problems. he needs to get to ashford in kent in the south. he told me he is stranded here, he is trying to find other ways of getting there for work. he told me he understood why the train drivers were striking, but it was causing major problems for people and said they should take their stand and hope for a more positive future. others have told me they understand why the drivers are taking this action but did not feel the strike action so far was achieving anything. they said it was just being a major inconvenience for the travelling public. we have also spoken to some aslef members who have been on the picket line, they say they don't want to be striking, drivers don't want to strike, they want to find a more fair deal, especially with the rising cost of living. that everyone is facing at the mint. the aslef union and the train operators are due to meet for discussions and talks next week.

further separate industrial action from members of other transport unions, the rmt and tssa, they are striking weekend on the 18th and 20th of august, this has been a summer of disruption on the railways. the advice to travellers, anyone wanting to take a train is to check before travelling and make alternative plans if needs be. thank ou. a critical incident�*s been declared by the nhs in shropshire. the crisis has been put down to a high number of patients arriving at hospital, difficulties discharging people because of a lack of capacity in the care sector, and staff absence because of covid. it means some non—urgent operations will be postponed. the headlines on bbc news... a man has been charged with attempted murder of acclaimed author sir salman rushdie, who's now on a ventilator,

after being stabbed on stage in new york. more extreme heat is expected in the southern half of the uk over the next two days. that, as experts also warn england's drought could last into the next year. travel disruption after thousands of train drivers from 9 rail companies go on strike across the uk today. it's the latest walk—out in a row over pay and conditions. sport and a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. it is always busy. starting with football. former england teamates and midfield rivals steven gerrard and frank lampard were meeting as managers for the first time and it was gerrard's aston villa that came out on top. they beat everton 2—1. that came out on top. steven that came out on top. gerrard once ran the

midfield. steven gerrard once ran the midfield. today, they met in the sunshine looking for their first win of the season. the visitors thought they had gone ahead through anthony gordon only for a late call to be made by the linesman. no such confusion at the other end. villa on the break, danny ings on the turn. a thunderbolt and a knockout first—half blow. after the break, chances were thin on the ground. perhaps the soaring temperatures were taking their toll. after the drinks break, villa looked the more refreshed as they pushed for a second. but one way or another, everton kept them out. {lift second. but one way or another, everton kept them out.— second. but one way or another, everton kept them out. off the line. until this move _ everton kept them out. off the line. until this move under _ everton kept them out. off the line. until this move under the _ everton kept them out. off the line. until this move under the defence. l until this move under the defence. but india looking likely back to the three points. everton were not done yet. pressure paid off to an on goal. it was too little, too late for frank lampard's side as it turned out to

so steven gerrard gets the better of frank lampard. let's hearfrom both men. i am really pleased with the level of performance. i believed if we found that level we would improve from last week. last week was not good enough and the outcome, we deserved that, but this week, what we have put into the game the quality and goals we scored, maybe we could have scored more, no—one can challenge the outcome of the game. we deserved our win. defensively, when we were set, they did not give us problems, those transition moments are the case with new players or not, the reality is some players have just arrived in the last week or two weeks. he is on the bench, i want him on the pitch, so we have to be patient in the early part of the season on that front. there are five other games under way in the premier league, about 15 minutes

into the second half. arsenal 3 — leicester — i. gabrieljesus has scored twice saliba own goal. man city are 3—0 up against bournemouth. phil foden, gundogan and de bruyne. no goals between wolves and fulham. the late kick—off, brentford are playing manchester united. four games in the scottish premiership aberdeen 2 motherwell livingston i hibernian i. st mirreni st mirren i ross county 0. champions celtic play tomorrow. british rowers won four golds at the multi—sport

european championships this morning, the women's four were the first to make it on to the top of the podium in munich. they held off ireland with romania finishing third. that goes some way to making up for their disappointment at last year's olympics where they finished fourth. the men's four successfully defended their european title, although it was a completely different crew. they finished ahead of the netherlands. the women's quad sculls and men's eight also took gold great britain's women took team silver in the gymnastics. alice kinsella, ondine achampong, jennifer &jessica gadirova, and georgia mae—fenton were beaten into second by a strong italian team, with germany taking the bronze. it equals their best performance at a europeans. these are live pictures from munich, after non stanford's success in the women's triathlon yesterday, the men havejust taken to the course. olympic silver medallist alex yee is not there and there are no brits in the leading group.

there are two double headers in the 100 today, welsh fire are playing birmingham phoenix in cardiff and we've had the result of the first match at old trafford. the trent rockets women easily beat the manchester originals thanks in part to this, australian spinner alana king taking the first hatrick in a women's hundred match. she took four wickets on her debut to help bowl the originals out for 76, the rockets winning by 43 runs. the men's teams are now playing. salford red devils beat huddersfield to keep themselves in the hunt for the superleague play—offs. they ran out winners by 33 points to 16 at the aj bell stadium, withjoe burgess capitalising on a mistake to run almost the full length of the field to go over. no changes in the table. salford stay seventh butjust

a point behind leeds whilst huddersfield remain in third. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. the taliban have been trying to stop women in the afghan capital kabul from protesting on the streets. the taliban fired in the air as dozens of women protested against the restriction of women's rights. the demonstration comes a year after the taliban seized power in afghanistan. girls have been barred from attending secondary schools in most of afghanistan. women have so far only been allowed to work in a few sectors including public health and security. at least one person has died and dozens more are injured when high winds caused part of a stage to collapse at a dance music festival in spain. other infrastructure was also damaged when gusts battered

the medusa festivale in cullera, a beach—side town south of valencia. the electronic music event which is held over six days has now been suspended. the leader of plaid cymru has called onjonathan edwards to stand down as an mp. mr edwards, who has sat as an independent mp, was cautioned by police in 2020 for assaulting his wife, and suspended from the party. earlier this week, it was announced he would be permitted to represent the party at westminster again, but adam price has since advised edwards to resign. the welsh secretary, sir robert buckland, has switched his support from rishi sunak to liz truss, becoming the first cabinet minister to publicly change sides in the conservative leadership race. he told the daily telegraph that after "deep" reflection, he'd decided ms truss was the best person to take the country forward. climbing all of scotland's munros,

or mountains, is a rite of passage for some hill walkers. but can you imagine scaling all 282 summits at the age of 82? nick gardner from the highlands set himself the challenge after his wife was taken into care. and as the royal osteoporosis society has just tweeted its congratulations, because, in the past hour he has just completed his final climb of the munros challenge. being with my wife is very challenging. because she does know me, but onlyjust. when your partner has alzheimer's, the problems are very severe. it has helped me deal with those problems. when i could no longer look after her, that was the game changer. that one really knocked me over. and i thought, "i have got to get a focus on life that was going to last a while." just doing, say, a marathon wouldn't be sufficient.

once i had done it, the challenge is over. i had to have a challenge that lasted. earlier today, mr gardner spoke to the bbc as he prepared to scale the final peak, cairn gorm. i can't believe it's happening. yeah, i'm just an old man who loves wandering in the mountains. and i'm getting all this publicity, it's wonderful. i will be thinking of her, but the mountains themselves are very powerful and they give me sustenance. so, yes, i'll be thinking about her, but then being in the mountains enables me to cope with those

problems. it perhaps seems strange coming from an 80—year—old, but i feel fitter than i ever have done in my life. i can't believe it. i've been a climber all my life but i've not climbed to the intensity to which i've climbed just recently. i thought £10,000 would be the maximum that i could possibly get. but with the help of social media and all my friends, then we've managed to raise the awareness and the money is coming in, rolling in. in fact, the hour before we set out to come here, there were five donations in that hour. so it's still rolling in. and we must be up to about 55,000 now. remember, in the scottish mountains, the weather can be very, very fickle, and at this point i would like to quote billy connolly.

"if you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes." as we mentioned, he has completed that claim now. it may be warm outside, but it's a sure sign that autumn is on its way when the line up for strictly come dancing is revealed. and today the 15th and final celebrity was unveiled, so we now have our cast for this year's 20th series. so let's take a look at who's taking part. i'm joined now by entertainment journalist and strictly fan emma bullimore. thank you so much forjoining us. first of all, if we look at the final contestant who has been announced, helen skelton who would probably first came across back in her blue peter days?— probably first came across back in her blue peter days? yes, she has resented her blue peter days? yes, she has presented all— her blue peter days? yes, she has presented all sorts _ her blue peter days? yes, she has presented all sorts since _ her blue peter days? yes, she has presented all sorts since then - her blue peter days? yes, she has presented all sorts since then on l her blue peter days? yes, she has. presented all sorts since then on tv and radio. she has been heavily rumoured for a long time, perhaps no surprises for the final contestant but we do now have the full 15 which for fans like but we do now have the full 15 which forfans like me is

but we do now have the full 15 which for fans like me is exciting but we do now have the full 15 which forfans like me is exciting because you start to scrutinise and think who will be partnered, who will be good and it gets exciting. we who will be partnered, who will be good and it gets exciting.- good and it gets exciting. we will come onto _ good and it gets exciting. we will come onto that. _ good and it gets exciting. we will come onto that. every _ good and it gets exciting. we will come onto that. every year- good and it gets exciting. we will come onto that. every year it - good and it gets exciting. we will i come onto that. every year it seems we get the response from some people of who are these people? i have never heard of any of them. perhaps unfairly. in terms of this year's contestants, how high up are they on the celeb scale? i contestants, how high up are they on the celeb scale?— the celeb scale? i would say we have had less of that _ the celeb scale? i would say we have had less of that this _ the celeb scale? i would say we have had less of that this year, _ the celeb scale? i would say we have had less of that this year, there - had less of that this year, there will always be people not quite in your wheelhouse but there are lots of household names in there. in terms of recognisable faces, one thing we have learned is that a—list names are not what matters. at this stage this is what matters but three weeks and you are looking for someone you have no clue who they were before the start of this easy special series full so we have big soap stars, and england footballer, evenif soap stars, and england footballer, even if you are not a massive footballer you know who ellie simmonds and tony adams are. they

have done where well in terms of big names. it's a big commitment to train and go through possibly to the final. it's a decent line—up. tell final. it's a decent line-up. tell us through _ final. it's a decent line-up. tell us through some _ final. it's a decent line-up. tell us through some of _ final. it's a decent line—up. tell us through some of the contestants you find most interesting this year. very interested by matt goss, we remember the documentary a couple of years ago when he and his brother talk about the fallout of the group and the social media sensation as well as being huge pop stars. interesting to see how he will do. he is quite a nest so we will see if you can loosen up and get into it. big soap stars, always interesting to see how they do. ellie simmonds will be interesting to see what kind of thing she does on the dance floor. we saw the success of rose last year and we have seen how important diversity is, representing different skill sets, that's

important. we also saw the same first same—sex couple to get to the final. that went really well, fantastic for the lgbt community, it is what they have been asking for for long time. richie anderson is also going to be in a same—sex partnership on the dance floor. we don't know who with yet but it will weep be interesting to see how they do. �* , ,., , weep be interesting to see how they do. �* , , ., , . ~' weep be interesting to see how they do. absolutely, thank you for s-ueakin do. absolutely, thank you for speaking to _ do. absolutely, thank you for speaking to us. _ now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. it is hot and it is dry. cooler weather is forecast to spread to all parts of the uk through the early part of next week. rain, however, will be slightly harder to pin down. the extreme heat warning the remains in place until the end of sunday for much of england and stretches across into mid wales. faultless blue skies and sunshine beating down, keeping the temperature rising day on day. some thicker cloud overnight returning to eastern scotland, the north—east of england, some mist and murk along the coasts, some drizzly rain for northern

scotland, and then by the end of the night, some showers starting to push into northern ireland and the south—west of england. it is through sunday that we are anticipating these showers becoming increasingly lively. thundery for northern ireland and northern and western scotland and with the rain arriving, we start to see things becoming cooler here. some isolated showers possible further west, but very little in the way of significant rainfall i think for england and wales on sunday. it is monday that we start to see wetter conditions coming in here. hello. this is bbc news. i'm luxmy gopal and these are the headlines... a man has reportedly been charged with attempted murder of acclaimed author sir salman rushdie, who's now on a ventilator, after being stabbed on stage in new york. his agent says the 75—year—old can't speak, is likely to lose an eye, has a damaged liver, and the nerves in one arm have been

severed in the attack.