this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the suspect in the stabbing of the author salman rushdie has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault. the 75—year—old is now on a ventilator, with the nerves in one arm severed, and may lose an eye. people are still in shock over what happened. you know, the guy has a price on his head from 1989, of all the places he might be attacked, or hurt or god forbid die, this would be the last place i would think of. also in the programme.... the ravaging effects of climate change — we report from france where exhausted firecrews have spent weeks battling wildfires. the ground around me is smoking.

there are smoldering embers here which very easily could be whipped up into yet another fire. more extreme heat is expected in the southern half of the uk over the next two days. experts warn england's drought could last into the next year. and taliban fighters shoot in the air to disperse a women's protest in kabul — a year after the taliban took over afghanistan. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. prosecutors say the man accused of stabbing the author sir salman rushdie has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault. hadi matar was formally charged in a court in new york state. sir salman remains on a ventilator

in hospital, after being attacked at an event in new york state yesterday. he's been the subject of death threats ever since the publication in 1988 of his controversial book, the satanic verses, which some muslims considered blasphemous. authors and politicians have condemned the attack as horrifying, and also an assault on free speech. this report from our correspondent, nomia iqbal. sir salman rushdie remains on a ventilator inside this hospital after undergoing emergency surgery. his agent has said the author is in bad shape. he faces losing an eye, the nerves in one of his arms are severed and his liver is damaged. sir salman was flown here from the neighbouring state of new york. it was there at a literary event where the attack happened in full view of a large audience. a man in a black mask jumped onto the stage, stabbing him at least once in the neck and several times in the abdomen.

guests held the suspect down as others tried to help the author, who lay injured on the stage. i've been coming here for 31 years. this is one of the most peaceful, quiet places i have ever been in my life. you know, the guy has a price on his head from 1989. of all the places he might be attacked or hurt or god forbid, die, chautauqua would be the last place i would think of. the suspect in custody is 24—year—old hadi matar from newjersey, whose parents migrated from lebanon. reports say that a law enforcement review of his social media accounts found he was sympathetic to the causes of the iranians revolutionary guards, a major military and political force in iran. it was in 1989 when iran's spiritual leader at the time placed a death sentence on sir salman. his book, the satanic verses, was considered an insult to islam and led to global riots which killed 45 people. he went into hiding for nearly a decade.

questions are now being asked about the level of security precautions at the event where sir salman was attacked. but in recent years, he expressed discomfort about high levels of security, saying he wanted to be able to live his life freely. sir salman rushdie remains very ill in hospital — he's still on a ventilator. this hospital has some of the most advanced facilities in the country when it comes to dealing with trauma. a 24—year—old man is in custody — he's been denied bail and charged with the attempted murder and assault of an author who has spent a major part of his life living under the threat of extremist attacks. nomia iqbal, bbc news, pennsylvania. erie based attorneyjohn mizner explained the charges to which the suspect has pleaded not guilty. he is charged with second—degree murder, and second—degree murder is usually one of two things.

first, either the intentional killing of another or one who is reckless and acts with a depraved indifference to human life. in other words, that they are so reckless that they don't care what happens as a result of this conduct. this is a very serious charge because the minimum sentence is 15 — a0 years, and the maximum sentence is life without parole, which means just that — life without parole. and this gentleman is going to be tried in the westernmost rural county of new york state. it's a county with a population of only about 125,000 people and one judge. so i know that people that watch american tv are use

to los angeles and new york, but this trial will be conducted in a much, much different setting in a small rural county, a crime that was witnessed by thousands. poet and novelist ben 0kri, who won the booker prize in 1991, is a friend of sir salman. he told my colleage chris rogers that the attack should not deter writers from creative expression. i think many people would be worried. i think many writers would, you know, question whether it's worth risking their lives for for for a short story or a poem. but, you know, those for whom writing is is as natural as breathing and for whom it is not just a civilised activity, but a very positive one, and one that is of great value to society and to every individual. for those of us, we will we will go on.

and we will have to just draw more courage from this. and, of course, we all send our thoughts of strength to him and and pray that he gets better and stronger and get back and get back to writing and living. did he inspire you? yes, he was. he was and remains a friend. i knew him well when he was when he was in england. and he was a he was an elder figure. he's the one that he won the booker prize exactly ten years before i did. and midnight's children was is one of those novels that changed the perception of the novel in england, as well as the possibilities of the booker prize. several european countries have seen a wave of deadly wildfires, triggered by record temperatures and drought across the continent. here you can see there are currently major fires in much of western europe. officials are concerned that windy conditions could make the situation worse. firefighters in france are continuing to battle what they're calling a monster fire south of bordeaux,

which has forced thousands to evacuate their homes. bethany bell reports from the gironde. the woods near bordeaux are still burning. this area was hit by a massive fire injuly and another blaze this week. fire crews from across europe have come here to help their french colleagues, many of whom are exhausted. the pine forests and the peat rich soil are like a tinderbox. even when the big fires are out, the danger still remains. as you can see, the ground around me is smoking. there's smoldering embers here, which very easily can be whipped up into yet another fire. the blaze breaks out in the bushes. firefighters rush to put it out... ..but it's a constant struggle. last night, the flames reached the edge of this village, threatening several houses. we met the mayor as he

supervised a truck spraying water into the woods. translation: we've never known a summer like this. | it's a catastrophe, an environmental catastrophe, and also a climate catastrophe. the sun and wind need to be replaced by clouds and rain as quickly as possible. 10,000 people have been evacuated from their home region. at a shelter in the town of sal. christian told me it's the second time he's had to flee this summer. translation: i'm fed up with it mentally and physically. it's time to go home, but itjust doesn't stop. it's a very serious fire the first time there's been such a big fire in our region. christian hopes he'll be able to go home soon. cooler temperatures are forecast for next week. but he, like everyone here, is worried about the future.

bethany bell, bbc news in the gironde. 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. the drought announcement covers much of the south west, and parts of southern, central and eastern england. angus crawford reports. no more summer paddling here for debbie, brian and anne. water levels on this part of the basingstoke canal in surrey are just too low. it's going to be hard work because we've got to load the boats onto trailers or onto cars and take them and find somewhere else to go. it is frustrating, yes. in the winter, the water comes up to the top of the rust line. in a normal summer, halfway up. but now it's completely dry and there's so little water in the main channel that, from monday, all boats are going to be banned. this drought — changing lives and landscapes. ladybower reservoir

in derbyshire, now half full. | i think we've got forecast extremes of weather and that's the thing that we're now seeing become the new normal with - the climate emergency. and in west wales, fields of crops threatened by wildfires. in may, the perfect playing surface, but look now. the outfield burnt yellow. 0diham in hampshire has gone more than a0 days without a drop of rain, longer than anywhere else in the country. it's dangerous. they slip when they're bowling. they can fall over trying to field a ball and it's dangerous. so we've gone from having to water our square maybe once a week, twice a week to keep it in good nick to now doing it at least once a day. rain is on the way, but the authorities warn the drought could be with us for months to come. angus crawford, bbc news. 0n the polish—german border,

authorities are rushing to identify the cause of a large amount of fish to die, in what gemany�*s environment minister says is likely to be an environmental catastrophe. tonnes of fish have washed up along hundreds of kilometres of the river 0der. both countries believe a toxic substance is to blame but have yet to identify it. katzina kojzar — a correspondent from polish investigative journalism website 0ko press — said other animals are also affected. it's really serious. we know about thousands of dead fish as well as beavers and birds. we don't know yet if the contamination does any harm to humans as well. but it's forbidden right now to even get close to the river to swim in it. we also have some reports about ducks who are swimming in the river in broadswathe.

it's one of the biggest cities near the ottawa river. —— it's one of the biggest cities near the 0der river. and so the ducks are right now having some major health issues. so we know that it's serious. but as you said, we don't know what it is. it started two weeks ago, in the end ofjuly. and we still don't have any answers about the substance and about the source of the substance. railway passengers across england, scotland and wales have been experiencing severe disruption today as the result of the latest in a series of rail strikes. members of the aslef union, which represents around 6,500 train drivers at nine rail companies, have walked out for 2h hours in a row overjobs, pay and conditions. further action is planned for next week. ramzen kermali 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 strike, so i'm going home on tuesday instead. it's annoying that the general public has to get inconvenienced, but i understand where they're coming from. i'm trying to get back to the town of buckingham so i can— resume my studies like next monday, but i didn't know that euston's - completely closed right now. nine train companies are impacted by today's strike — avanti west coast, crosscountry, greater anglia, great western railway, hull trains, lner, london 0verground, southeastern and west midlands trains. aslef have consistently said this dispute centres on pay and the rising costs their members are facing. we didn't ask for pay. we didn't ask for anything during the pandemic. they worked on the front line, you know, as key workers. and now it's, you know, people are saying the cost of living crisis is engulfing them,

too, and they want a fair pay rise. disruptions from today's action are likely to spill over into tomorrow, but the train companies insist that any agreement over pay will have to wait until reforms are fully implemented. we can look at reform when we can see what type of reform we're 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 be able to do that. 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 this summer of strikes is going to come any time soon. ramzen kermali, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the suspect in the stabbing of the author salman rushdie has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault. nearly half of europe is experiencing a severe drought as it bakes under extreme temperatures — with fireighters battling a huge forest fire

sweeping through the gironde region in france. the taliban have been trying to stop women in the afghan capital kabul from protesting on the streets. they fired shots 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. the internationally renowned photographer, kiana hyree was there. we already know that the taliban was going to crack down before the protests started, there was a strong presence of taliban fighters. i probably had about five minutes to photograph, and we actually timed it from the moment the girls stepped on the street, started chanting, to the time that the taliban started firing, it was about ten minutes — less than ten minutes, actually. no—one has been hurt. a bunch of foreign journalists and a few localjournalists have been arrested. a few people have been beaten up.

when i learned they were going to fire, we knew they just wanted to intimidate and stop the women. so they've done this in previous protests as well. they fire in the air, just to disperse the crowd. i wasn't surprised that it actually became violent and they started shooting at... i was very surprised at how quickly it happened. i've attended a few of these protests. these women are extremely brave for putting their face, putting themselves out there. and on top of that, what i found very interesting was, when this happened, when the shooting happened, the shopkeepers on the main street, they started giving refuge to us. i'm a female journalist, right? 0therjournalists, foreigners, and also the female protesters, which i found very surprising for afghan culture. but they took us in. they gave us safety. we waited until things calmed down and then we left the shop. ukraine's president zelensky says that every russian soldier who shoots at the zaporyzhzhia nuclear plant or uses it as a base to shoot from —

will himself become a target for ukrainian soldiers and intelligence officers. in his nightly video address, mr zelensky said all those russians involved in what he called "nuclear blackmail" must be tried by an international court. he accuses russian troops of cynically using the power plant to shell the nearby cities of nikopol and marganets. colombia's first left—wing president, gustavo petro, has replaced the country's top military and police commanders less than a week after taking office. mr petro said their selection criteria were zero corruption and zero violation of fundamental rights. the former rebel fighter said security success should not be measured in the number of dead, but in promoting rights and liberty. four days after elections in kenya, there's growing frustration and anxiety over the delay in announcing the results. the head of the electoral commission admitted that the tallying of votes

for the presidential poll was moving too slowly. with just over a quarter of the ballots tallied, the veteran opposition leader, raila 0dinga, has 54% of the votes — a lead of nearly 10% over his rival, the current deputy president william ruto. earlier, we heard from elvis 0ndieki, a reporter at the daily nation newspaper based in nairobi. he began by updating us on where we are with the vote count. so far, they have counted 96. can you works with 291 constituencies. each of those contributes to the presidential tally, and for this to be an official results or the results that were posted in the polling station have to be taken to nairobi. the physicalform has to be compared with the form that was sent on election day electronically. and once the process has satisfied that the headquarter is the form is sent, it is verified. so it's been

painfully slow, especially in other parts of kenya, the forms keep coming one by one by the officers who are bringing them, so the process is going slowly and we hope to have our results in the next two or three days. canyons have this sort of when there is a transfer of power, they have been waiting all over social media because the results keep changing one moments somebody is leading, the next, they are not, he's been overtaken, so a lot of tension and speculation on who is leading, many think this process should be sped up to get results quicker so canyons can move on with their lives. 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. it's been one year since the taliban returned to power in afghanistan. with their return, women were banned from playing any sport, putting female athletes in danger. but with the help of a former world champion cyclist, five young women from the national cycling team managed to escape to a town in northern italy. some of them are now hoping to become the first cyclists to represent afghanistan at the olympics. the bbc visited them to find out how they're settling in to their new lives. translation: the first time i rode a bike, it felt amazing. _ ifeltlikea bird.

ifelt like i could fly. training in the foothills of the dolomites. it is a cyclist�*s dream. but for these sisters, it has come at a great cost. translation: when the taliban returned to power, _ i thought my dream was over. translation: i never thought i would be a refugee. i never imagined i would have to leave my country. but along with three team—mates, they have navigated a new home, new country and a new language. quindici, sedici, diciassette... despite a warm welcome, it's not been easy. translation: when i remember my family, i feelvery sad. _ it is very, very difficult to be away from your mum and your family.

they wouldn't be here without former world champion cyclist alessa nd ra ca ppellotto. her charity helps female cyclists from developing countries. translation: they asked for help. their lives were in danger. so it's the natural thing to do to help them. the simple act of cycling is banned for women in afghanistan. but these girls are determined to continue the dream they started back home, here in the italian hills. they still have mountains to climb, but these sisters want to make history as the first cyclist to ever represent their country at the olympics. translation: | want| to go to the olympics. i want to win. i want to show the world what afghan women can achieve. we want to be noticed. translation: | don't think- all of them can become champions, but i believe some of them can do it _ cycling is a sport where willpower, the desire to work hard and passion count for a lot, and these girls definitely have all three.

they're miles away from home, but these girls are hoping this village can give them the opportunities that afghanistan never could. for park rangers in turkey — coming across a wild bear cub is not 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 a forest in a province of north—east turkey. wobbling and whining, the animal looked... well, it looked 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 luteum and these are rhododendron ponticum. both of them contain a substance called grayanotoxin, which has hallucinogenic properties. add 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's said to be in good condition and will be released back into the wild in the coming days. music: white rabbit byjefferson airplane. but this was one bear that sure had a big surprise. she may be a little more discerning on her next picnic. tim allman, bbc news.

ididn't i didn't know bears could sigh like that, did you? much more on our bbc website if you want to watch more. after the weather we'll take a look at tomorrow's front pages in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are emma woolf, and kate maltby, and hopefully we will be able to hear kate, and she can hear us. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina. hello. the heat does begin to ease in the week ahead. there'll be more showers in the forecast as well. but in the short term, we still have the met office amber warning for extreme heat in place. it's valid until the end of the day on sunday. still likely to see some impacts from the heat on both health and transport as well. good deal of sunshine around through sunday morning, particularly across england and wales. showers developing though across northern ireland pushing their way through the day up into parts of scotland,

likely to be heavy and thundery. could well see one or two showers developing across parts of wales and south west england. most will be dry though, some mist and low cloud still clinging to north eastern coasts. temperatures will be the talking point once again, 35 or 36 celsius the top temperature across parts of south east england and widely in the high 20s or low 30s celsius. and the showers start to become more active as we go through sunday evening and overnight and starting to develop across parts of north west england, wales and south west england. again, still heavy and thundery, but falling onto dry ground. likely to be some problems with flash flooding in places and still a very muggy night. parts of southern england once again could have a tropical night with temperatures not falling below 20 celsius. but as we head through monday, this area of low pressure starts to become more dominant and we'll start to see more frequent showers developing. now on monday once again, the main focus of the showers will be across scotland and northern ireland where again they'll be heavy and thundery merging to give a longer spell of rain, but a greater chance that we'll see a few of those showers pushing their way across england and wales. not everyone will see them, but there is a chance that we could see some rain from those showers as we

head through monday. a cooler feel across scotland and northern ireland on monday. still very muggy and very warm across much of england and wales but the temperatures will be starting to fall down. as we head into tuesday, you can see we see more frequent showers across the north of england and into scotland, but also some showers, more frequent showers developing across the southern half of england as well. so a greater chance that we'll see some spells of rain on tuesday. and you'll notice that the temperatures starting to coming down, still warm, but close to where they should be for the time of year. so through tuesday and wednesday, this area of low pressure is still close by, still the chance that we'll see some showers, some thunderstorms. but given how dry the ground is, it may well be that we'll see some problems with flash flooding. but certainly in the days ahead, things will be turning cooler with a chance of some rain. bye— bye.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. it should become apparent in a minute why i am laughing. hopefully joining me in a minute our guests for the papers. we had a few problems with kate's communications

in the last hour. the observer leads on the impacts of severe heat in the uk — the papers calls it �*britain�*s long, parched summer. the sunday express says its backing liz truss to become the next prime minister. her rival rishi sunak is on the front of the sunday telegraph — urging sanctions for iran following the stabbing of salman rushdie. the sunday times chooses to focus on reports the treasury is developing a plan to hand out more money to cope with energy costs. and finally the mirror shows the human impact of the cost of living crisis. let's begin. we haven't got emma with us at the minute so it is up to kate to keep us going, as emma did last time. kate, thanks for sticking with us. let's begin with the observer and the headline, keir observer and the headline, keir starmer to demand a halt in autumn hike to energy prices. labour have been criticised that they have been

very slow off the