otherwise dry, temperatures dipping to the mid— to high teens for many. so, a warm start again tomorrow morning. but more showers around on monday, the thunderstorms particularly across england and wales will be hit and miss, some places this is bbc news. the headlines at 4... a group of charities and community organisations has called the rises in energy bills a "national emergency," as labour is to call for the energy price cap to be frozen in october. but the energy minister say their plan won't work. i think we have to be a little bit careful in some of these — labour's seemingly magical solution to just wish it all away, that will have consequences. the son of author sir salman rushdie says his injuries

are life changing but that his feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact, after he was stabbed at an event in new york state. egyptian health officials say at least 41 people have died and a0 are injured in a fire at a coptic church in north—west cairo. a powerful explosion has rocked a shopping centre and caused a fire in armenia's capital, yerevan, leaving one dead and 20 injuried. prosecutions for breaching covid restrictions have been dropped for six people, who attended a vigil in london for sarah everard last year. warnings in the uk over the use of disposable barbecues after a weekend of wildfires in parts of england. good afternoon. 70 charities and community

organisations have written to the two conservative party candidates vying to be its next leader and the next prime minster urging them to show "compassion and leadership" in dealing with the cost—of—living crisis. tomorrow, labour is expected to call on the government to freeze the energy price cap this autumn, to help people deal with the rising cost of living. the government has already pledged up to £1,200 to help the most vulnerable families but with the energy price cap due to rise this autumn, and then again injanuary, it's claimed the support is no longer sufficient. here's our political correspondent david wallace—lockhart. with energy bills expected to continue rising, 70 charities have written to the two candidates to be the next prime minister, calling for £1200 of government support to help low income families make ends meet this winter. throughout history, it has been government's role to provide support to households who need it in a time of crisis. we saw it during the pandemic using the furlough scheme and the £20 uplift to universal credit per week

and we need to see that again now. we need to see that the government at least doubles that support to low—income households right now, or we are going to be facing a winter of truly terrifying circumstances. a source of many of these concerns are predicted rises in the energy price cap — the maximum that can be charged for a unit of energy. last october, a typical family could expect to pay about £1200 per year for electricity and gas. this october, it will be closer to £2000. forecasts now suggest the figure could go up to £3500 later this year, and to more than 4000 injanuary. the labour leader sir keir starmer is expected tomorrow to call for october's energy price cap rise to be scrapped, a position already suggested by the snp and lib dems. the current energy minister insists this is not a realistic proposal. we would have to find a way to compensate people by effectively trying to abolish that price rise,

and that would inevitably lead to higher taxes so i think we have to be a little bit careful with some of these, like labour's seemingly magical solution to just wish it all the way. that will have consequences. the treasury is collating cost—of—living policy options for the next prime minister to consider. rishi sunak has said he will provide more direct support to vulnerable households. liz truss has not ruled out more support but prefers the idea of tax cuts. one of her key supporters, the chief secretary to the treasury, simon clark, has questioned the universal nature of some of the support offered so far, suggesting a preference for more targeted intervention. the new prime minister will take office on the 5th of september, just a month shy of another rise in bills — an immediate challenge for a new leader. david wallace—lockhart, bbc news.

sir salman rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and has spoken for the first time since he was stabbed several times on stage at a literary event in the united states on friday. his son has described his father's injuries as life changing but says his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour is still intact. earlier, his agent said that his road to recovery had begun, and that his condition is "heading in the right direction." nomia iqbal is at the hospital in erie pennsylvania where the satanic verses�* author is being treated and gave us this update. in a statement given to us at the bbc, salman rushdie�*s agent andrew wylie said the following, which i will quote verbatim. "he's off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun. it will be long, the injuries are severe but his condition is headed in the right direction." just a reminder of those injuries. salman rushdie is thought to likely lose an eye. the nerves in one of his arms are severed, and also his liver has been badly damaged.

now, in terms of the suspect, the man accused of attempting to murder and assault him, 24—year—old hadi matar, who is an american citizen, has already appeared in court. he's pleaded not guilty to all the charges. about his extremist views. it's important to say that no definitive motive has yet been established. here's that statement from sir salman rushdie�*s son.

egyptian health officials say at least 41 people have died and a0 are injured in a fire at a coptic church in north—west cairo. several children are believed to be among the dead. the blaze in the abi—seyfen church in the capital's working—class district of imbaba is reported to have been caused by an electrical fault in an air conditioner. president abdel fattah al—sisi has said that all state services have been mobilised to help, and the fire is now reported to be under control. a powerful explosion has rocked a shopping centre and caused a fire in armenia's capital, yerevan. the armenian emergencies ministry

says one person has died and 20 people have been injured in the blast. local media report that the explosion occurred at a fireworks warehouse. video of the incident showed large clouds of black smoke in the sky, and people running away as a building collapsed. the area has been sealed off and teams of rescuers are at the scene. at least eight people have been injured after a gunman opened fire on a bus near the western wall injerusalem's old city, in israel. the suspect began shooting as pilgrims were returning from prayers at the holy site. two people, including a pregnant woman, are in a critical condition, and four of the injured were members of the same family visiting israel from new york. firefighters say a huge fire, which tore through a popular nature reserve at studland heath in dorset and forced the evacuation of a beach, was most likely caused by a disposable barbecue. the hot weather and drought

conditions have led the met office to issue its highest alert for fire severity over the weekend, warning there is an "exceptional" risk of blazes spreading. will batchelor reports. the true cost of a disposable barbecue. firefighters say this huge blaze which tore across studland heath in dorset was almost certainly caused by picnickers trying to cook food on the tinder dry beauty spot. after battling the flames all night, they found a disposable barbecue among the ashes. we really are appealing to members of the public to consider what you're doing. if it is going to potentially start a fire, try to avoid it if you possibly can. this field fire near chelmsford was one of 75 in essex.

it covered 91 acres, and containing it required the help of local farmers. if you are downwind you wouldn't have kept up with it running. luckily, the wind direction was away from the houses, and so it wasjust a question of stopping it spreading back towards the houses again, but when the wind changed direction, suddenly it would move towards you and, yes, it is frightening. in north london, this grassfire billowed smoke across the busy m25 motorway. in surrey, a different problem. in cranleigh, near guildford, residents queued up for bottled water after their taps ran dry. thames water said there were technical issues at one of its treatment works, and that fixing it was taking longer than they'd hoped. and it isn'tjust humans who need hydration. one farmer in suffolk has been filling 70 water troughs each day to make sure the wildlife have enough to drink. an amber heat alert is still in place today and the drought in parts of england could potentially last into next year. let's hear more about the situation

in cranleigh, then, where some woke up this morning with low or no water supplies for the second day. a statement from thames water says netley mill water treatment works is now back in service and supply is gradually being restored to the local network. this will continue over the remainder of the day. it's continuing to supply bottled water to those who need it. we thought the water was back on. this morning we got up and it was a trickle. the trickle has gone to nothing again. it is difficult. you don't realise what it affects cleaning your teeth, flushing the toilet, washing your hands. that is the worst thing. you go to the toilet and think you have no water toilet and think you have no water to wash your hands then.

so, personally, i have a daughter who is autistic so it is quite stressful for her. and you know, we try and manage it a lot by keeping her busy. but you know, i wouldn't say it's... the problem is not the lack of water, the problem is the lack of transparency of what's happening with the problems that they have, and the timelines that they give you, it's the lack of information. i think we would like to be kept up to speed with what's happening, because nobody knew about this. i mean, i only knew that it was going on because the water pressure was down, and i came to go to the shops and saw all this water here. but there was... eventually, we had, i had a phone call yesterday to say, because the lady is in her 90s, that they were going to deliver water. they delivered some finally last night. the government is going to delay a railfare increase. the department for transport says it wants to reduce the impact of inflation on rail fares

and will temporarily freeze fares. let's get more now from our business correspondent vishala sri—pathma. on the surface it sounds not such bad news — on the surface it sounds not such bad news for rail passengers. prices usuall no bad news for rail passengers. prices usually 90 up _ bad news for rail passengers. prices usually go up in _ bad news for rail passengers. prices usually go up in january _ bad news for rail passengers. prices usually go up in january and - bad news for rail passengers. prices usually go up in january and they i usually go up injanuary and they are based on inflation figures in july. we will find out what the that they are expected to be around ii.9%, they are expected to be around ii.9%, clearly pretty high. you think about your rail commute with prices going up that much, it is by a significant chunk. the department for transport says it is not going to go up by that match. it is not going to be ii.9% committee is lower than that. we are looking to help people with their cost of living really. people with their cost of living reall . ~ . , ., really. what is the longer term -icture really. what is the longer term picture for _ really. what is the longer term picture for rail— really. what is the longer term picture for rail passengers? - picture for rail passengers? apparently there will be a price freeze, according to the department for transport. the price freeze comes into effect injanuary. they

are kicking the can down the road and it will not happen until march. you will have certainty of prices in january and february. they are working on it. we will hear more from them about what they will do full prices. this applies to some specific routes, it is not all train prices the government sets a price for. it is normally full commute is going to london, for example. they are the ones who will be looking at the january price set. ii.5% are the ones who will be looking at the january price set. 11.5% is quite a significant chunk. even if it is down by 1.9% admitted to still double figures. still a hefty increase. double figures. still a hefty increase-— double figures. still a hefty increase. , , . increase. keep very much indeed. -- thank ou increase. keep very much indeed. -- thank you very _ increase. keep very much indeed. -- thank you very much _ increase. keep very much indeed. -- thank you very much indeed. - a teenage boy has died after going into the sea in skegness. emergency services were alerted to reports of a child in the water at around 6pm yesterday. after police and coastguard

searches, the boy's body was found at 11:30pm. our reporterjessica lane has been giving us the latest from skegness. emergency services were called at about quarter past six last night, to reports that a child, aged under 16, was in the water. the coastguard oversaw a major operation. both lifeboats from here in skegness were launched, as well as search teams from further up and down the coast. a helicopter was used, too. they searched for hours and a boy's body was recovered at around half past 11. travelling home last night with a lorry, we could see the helicopters up and down — the helicopter. hearing sirens. i looked on the cctv cameras and noticed the police closed the beach. i was watching the helicopters up and down till late last night. skegness is a very busy and very popular resort, especially in the summer holidays and in a heatwave. at one point yesterday, police said, in the space ofjust two hours, they had reports

of ten children who had gone missing from the arcades that line the front here from the beach and from the water. they say nine of those were found safe and well — apart from the boy, who died. they say their thoughts are with the boy's family today. more than 20,000 people have been detected crossing the english channel in small boats so far this year, uk government figures show. that compares to a figure of around 28,000 throughout the whole of 2021. despite the growing numbers, the uk arrivals in small boats are a fraction of the number of people going to europe. prosecutions for breaching covid restrictions have been dropped against six people, who attended a vigil in london for sarah everard in march 2021. they had been due to stand trial in november this year and if convicted faced being fined hundreds of pounds. our correspondent angus crawford has been following this story.

3rd of march last year, sarah everard was kidnapped and murdered by a serving met police firearms officer. ten days after she disappeared, a group called reclaim these streets said they wanted to hold a vigil in her honour in clapham common. but the police at that time said, "you can't, we'll give you a £10,000 fine if you do." so, they called it off, but lots of people spontaneously simply went down there. you will probably remember the images, very emotive, lots of people there, some protesting about how the police were treating them, police then went in and arrested a number, trampled flowers, it was highly controversial. what happened was, six people who were arrested were going to be charged with covid breaches. then, we were still in, if you remember back then, tier 4 lockdown regulations, and they were charged with breaching those, and they were going to go to trial in november this year. but today, surprise announcement from the cps, that's not happening. any reaction to that surprise announcement? well, the cps said that it simply couldn't take these cases to court

because it didn't meet their legal test for prosecution. now, the met, who had been under an enormous amount of scrutiny over this, a lot of controversy about it, have said that they had a really difficult balance to strike between safeguarding the public and the rights of the individuals, but they said very clearly that the decision not to continue with the prosecution was in their words entirely a matter for the cps. the headlines on bbc news... a group of charities and community organisations has called the rises in energy bills a "national emergency," as labour is to call for the energy price cap to be frozen in october. but the energy minister say their plan won't work. the author sir salman rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and his agent says his road to recovery has begun and his condition is heading in the right direction

after being stabbed at an event in new york state. egyptian health officials say at least 41 people have died and a0 are injured in a fire at a coptic church in north—west cairo. sport now. nottingham forest have marked their first home premier league match in 23 years with a win. they beat west ham 1—0 at the city ground. taiwo awoniyi scored with the goal just before half time, not that he knew much about it, as an attempted clearance bounced off his shin. the hammers won a second half penalty after a handball in the box, but declan rice saw his spot—kick saved. that's a second defeat of the season for west ham but forest have their first points. there's one other premier league match today, the first big derby of the season. tottenham have a dreadful record

at chelsea, having won there just once in the league in 32 years. marc cucurella makes his first start for chelsea, spurs are unchanged from the team that beat southampton. new signing richarlison who was suspended last weeeknd is on the bench chelsea is one of the best teams in england, in europe. two years ago they won the champions league. last season they won the world cup as a club. i was there, i know. i know which club we are talking of, the investment they go to do every season. i don't believe everything antonio

conte says before and after games. i admire him a lot and believe strongly that every team he trains, competes for everything, no matter what the club. they took advantage of the situation and had a very aggressive transfer period to strengthen their squad in quality and depth. that is why it is one of the toughest opponents. that is always the case with his teams. kick off in ten minutes at stamford bridge. celtic needed a four—goal win to return to the top of the scottish premiership, they beat kilmarnock 5—0 at rugby park. three goals in the first half, including this long—range effort byjota gave ange postecoglou's side a comfortable lead at the break and celtic added two more in the second, giorgios giakoumakis' bicycle kick sending the defending champions ahead of rangers on goal difference at the top.

there have been more gold medals for great britain at the multi—sport european championships in germany. four rowing golds yesterday and emily craig and imogen grant were first past the line in the women's double sculls. they fnished ahead of france with the olympic champions italy claiming brozen. that was amazing. i feel so emotional right now, actually. the last time we raced a double together was nine months ago. it was a rough year last year. we have both been doing lots of stuff individually this year to try to improve. i feel like that has been the proof of it really, coming back fighting and showing we are a force to be reckoned with. there was also gold for the mixed coded four, in the pr3 classification, for athletes with muscle or visual impairment. the british team finished almost 20 seconds clear of france. the northern superchargers have won their first game in the women's hundred this year

with victory over london spirit. bess heath hit a superb 57 from just 3a balls in headingley as the superchargers reached 127 for 4 from their innings. london spirit fell five runs short in their chase as they suffered a second successive defeat. the men are in action right now. the northern superchargers won the toss and made 143—5. faf du plessis made a half—century. adam has made half a century as well. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website.

i will be back with an update on the match at stamford bridge later. all football fans are always pessimistic. ollie is a big tottenham fan. we'll to put that out. thank you so much. we will see him again soon. a delegation from the us congress arrived in taiwan today. they're visiting for two days and will meet president tsai ing—wen. their visit comes 12 days after one by the house speaker nancy pelosi, which led to an angry reaction from the island's neighbour china. there could be more disruption for train travellers from today as avanti west coast introduces a reduced timetable of services, adding to problems created by a summer of rail strikes. the company, which operates trains between london and the north—west and scotland, says the new timetable will run until further notice due to "severe staff shortages". ramzan karmali has this report.

just a day after the latest industrial dispute to hit the railways, another major disruption is hitting customers who use travel on avanti west coast services. a reduced timetable will see a big drop in services. avanti west coast normally runs seven trains per hour on the west coast main line. now it will run as few as four an hour. london, euston, and manchester services are the worst affected, with trains reduced from three per hour to just one. avanti west coast blame the timetable reduction on the current industrial relations climate. prior to these cancellations, many of these trains were running as a result of drivers volunteering for overtime, but the number of volunteers has fallen sharply. this has led to an accusation from the transport secretary, grant shapps, that this is an unofficial strike. aslef deny that accusation. it says avanti west coast simply haven't hired enough drivers, and says that train companies in general have lost

the goodwill of their employees. the labour mayors of both manchester and london put the blame of the dispute firmly at the door of the train company. all parties are a bit to blame, but for avanti to say that it's all down to the drivers who don't want to work on their rest days is actually pretty outrageous, because the drivers have every right not to work on their rest days, and indeed they get reasonable salaries, so if they don't want to work on their rest day, yes, it is difficult for avanti but they should have sorted this out when they took over the franchise a couple of years ago. grant shapps has written to the mayors of the cities and he remains adamant that the fault of this lies with the union. he is calling for major reforms of the railways, but that's little comfort to the thousands who will face much tougherjourneys to their destinations. razman karmali, bbc news. president zelensky says any russian soldier who fires at the zaporyzhzhia nuclear plant

or uses it as a base to shoot from will become a target for ukrainian soldiers. he said russians involved in what he called "nuclear blackmail" should be tried by an international court. translation: every russian soldier, who either strikes or shoots _ from the zaporyzhzhia site or its territory, must realise that they will become a special target for our intelligence special services and for our army. a—level grades in england, wales and northern ireland are expected to fall when results are announced this week but teenagers applying to university are being reassured most will get their first choice. the bbc has seen a letter being sent out to students from exams regulator, quual, and the university admissions service, ucas, saying the marks should not be compared with those from 2021, when exams were cancelled because of the pandemic and teacher assessment led to a boom in top grades.

today is the last of four days of intense heat which has lead to an amber weather warning for much of southern england and wales. while there are concerns about drought and the impact the heat has on the elderly and vulnerable, many people have simply been taking the opportunity to enjoy it. coastal resorts have been packed, but as emma simpson has been finding out, labour stortages and rising energy costs in hospitality mean not all businesses are willing, or able, to cope with the extra trade. it's boom time if you're selling food and drink at the beach — if you've got the staff to do it. i need somebody to go in the kitchen. i need waitresses, bar staff. louise runs this pub and it is missing out on lost sales. we could certainly be taking more than we are if we were doing food seven days a week and i had got more staff so we could put the facilities out there.

we are not putting the tables out on monday and tuesday at the moment, purely because i haven't got the staff to do so. it is even worse for this award—winning restaurant. trading is on pause. they have struggled to get staff since brexit and covid. the owners are now abroad, trying to hire chefs and waiting for a special government licence to bring them over. many sleepless nights. this business is a family business so it is me and my partner, so this is our only income. this is all really we live for, and to be closed is really heartbreaking, to be honest. there is no shortage of customers in this town — just staff. across the uk, there's something like 176,000 vacancies in hospitality. that is double the number before the pandemic. so this is a mock—up restaurant. you won't find a customer in here. the boss of this suffolk hotel chain shows me the training centre he started in march to help recruit and retain staff.

you have to do something about it yourself because no one is going to give you these people, and if you want them to stay, you have got to give them the skills and the confidence to be with you. labour shortages now, but could that tide be about to turn? at the alex cafe, they are open all week — three days only, though, upstairs. but the owner is in no rush, with rising energy costs for him and his customers. i've done the job for over a0 years and it has never been like this. you know, you have always been able to see a path, however steep that path is, or how difficult. at the moment, it is almost like an abyss. we could be looking at £100,000 per year extra — extra — on energy. you know, that's £2,000 per week. he is trying to keep it simple in a sector that is bracing itself for bumpier times ahead. emma simpson, bbc news, felixstowe. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth rizzini.

hello, good afternoon.