this is bbc news. the headlines at seven... a group of charities and community organisations have called the rises in energy bills a national emergency as labour is to call for the energy price cap to be frozen in october. the energy minister says their plan won't work. i think we have to be a little bit careful on 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 injured in a fire at a coptic church in north—west cairo. warnings in the uk over the use of disposable barbecues as tinder dry conditions continue after a weekend of wildfires

in parts of england. at least 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in southern france as wildfires continue in a summer of historic drought and a series of heatwaves. a late goalfrom a late goal from tottenham rescues a draw away to chelsea. 70 charities and community organisations in the uk 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. 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. they're calling for £1,200 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 when you are 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 their 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. that's the maximum that can be charged for a unit of energy. last october, a typical family could expect to pay about £1,200

a year for electricity and gas. this 0ctober, it will be closer to £2,000. forecasts now suggest that the figure could go up to £3,500 later this year and to more than 4,000 injanuary. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, is expected tomorrow to call for 0ctober�*s energy price cap rise to be scrapped — a position already suggested by the snp and the 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 on some of these kind of... like, labour's seemingly magical solution, just wish it all away, that will have consequences. the treasury is collating cost—of—living policy options for the next prime minister to consider. rishi sunak has said that he will provide more direct

support to vulnerable households. liz truss hasn't 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. a new prime minister will take office on the 5th of september, just a month shy of another rise in bills — an immediate challenge for whoever takes over here at number ten. david wallace—lockhart, bbc news, downing street. the world's biggest oil producer's net income has doubled. all prices are risin: net income has doubled. all prices are rising because _ net income has doubled. all prices are rising because of— net income has doubled. all prices are rising because of the _ net income has doubled. all prices are rising because of the russian l are rising because of the russian attacks on ukraine. —— oil. 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 new york state on friday. his son, zafar rushdie, has described his injuries as life—changing but says his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact. chautauqua county jail have released a picture of the alleged attacker, 24—year—old hadi matar, who denies a charge of attempted murder. nomia iqbal reports from new york on sir salman�*s condition. the details of his condition have come through that statement from his son, zafar rushdie, which he released on twitter. he said that his father is still in a critical condition inside the hospital. he's been taken off the ventilator. he's able to breathe unaided. and he did say a few words. zafar rushdie did go on to say that the injuries are life—changing and just to repeat what you said there, to quote him, he said that his father's usual and defiant sense of humour remains intact. he also paid tribute to the audience members who jumped into action that day on friday at the literary event

where mr rushdie was due to speak and helped mr rushdie. he was taken from that new york event, the neighbouring state of pennsylvania, and helicoptered here to the hospital where, as his son has said, he remains in critical condition. earlier, mr rushdie's agent, andrew wylie, confirmed to us that mr rushdie was on the long road to recovery. so 24—year—old hadi matar has already appeared in court. he is accused of attempted murder and attempted assault of mr rushdie. he has pleaded not guilty to those charges. there's a lot of speculation and reports that are coming out about him, including his alleged sympathies with iran's revolutionary guards. so this is a major political and military force in the country. and, of course, it was iran's spiritual leader back in 1989

who issued this fatwa, who issued this death sentence on mr rushdie for his book, the satanic verses, which many muslims consider blasphemous. having said that, though, it's worth emphasising that the suspect�*s motives have still not been officially established. in egypt, at least a0 people have died — many of them children — and dozens more have been injured in a fire at a church where thousands of worshippers had gathered for morning mass. it's reported an electrical fire broke out at the coptic church in giza, outside cairo. 0ur correspondent, sally nabil, sent this report from the scene at the abu sifin church. a sunday church service that ended in tragedy. behind these windows, egyptian christian worshippers died. the abu sifin church was in a packed, busy neighbourhood of giza. the fire killed dozens, including many children.

we've been told many of the victims suffocated to death as thick smoke covered the area. people rushed into the building, trying to save as many lives as possible. this woman lost her sister—in—law. translation: she had five children. three daughters who are three, five and seven years old. and two boys. my heart is on fire for all these victims. the people i've spoken to here are clearly very angry. they want to know exactly how and why their loved ones died. there will be questions, too, for the church itself and for the emergency services. could they have acted more quickly? initial reports suggest the fire was caused by an electric fault. people here told us there was a power cut and the church was on a generator. when the electricity was turned on again, there was an overload.

translation: fire was coming out of the air condition, _ then spread to the rest of the church. it was on the third and fourth floors. many worshippers fainted and could hardly breathe. a major investigation is now under way. inspectors from the public prosecutors' office already checked the scene. there is nothing to suggest there are any criminal motives behind this incident so far. but the christian community here say they have had enough. many of their churches have been targeted by militant attacks in recent years. bereaved families will be eagerly waiting for the results of the investigation. this might bring them a bit of solace, but nothing can make up for their terrible losses. sally nabil, bbc news, cairo. 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. mark, welcome to bbc news. what sort of position does this put china in? it actually puts china in a very difficult position. they had a very aggressive response to nancy pelosi's visit that lasted several days, stuff maritime and air traffic, dilated for a period of time and created a great deal of concern in the international community about china's intentions, there was speculation that this was actually something more and demonstrated the capabilities that china had if it did in fact use

force against taiwan. where you go from here is an open question. is this case and several others of recent chinese attempts in the past have shown when they have tried to make these demonstrations, oftentimes they tend to galvanise an international opinion against china and in this case it has had the same type of effect on taiwan. it has not deterred future delegations from going to taiwan. but deterred future delegations from going to taiwan.— deterred future delegations from going to taiwan. but what does... vote to the _ going to taiwan. but what does... vote to the us — going to taiwan. but what does... vote to the us and _ going to taiwan. but what does... vote to the us and taiwan - going to taiwan. but what does... vote to the us and taiwan expect| going to taiwan. but what does... i vote to the us and taiwan expect to achieve? —— what do you. first vote to the us and taiwan expect to achieve? -- what do you.— achieve? -- what do you. first and foremost as _ achieve? -- what do you. first and foremost as a _ achieve? -- what do you. first and foremost as a show _ achieve? -- what do you. first and foremost as a show of _ achieve? -- what do you. first and foremost as a show of cooperation | foremost as a show of cooperation and support for a democratic region and support for a democratic region and also to let beijing's know that their coercion will deter the democratic process in taiwan and

deter the united states obligations for ensuring that taiwan is able to defend itself in the face of potential chinese aggression, there has been a change in policy, which is said that the united states will support a peaceful unification, if thatis support a peaceful unification, if that is what both sides do. so these visits and demonstrations of support are more to show that both sides will not be intimidated by patient. but how great is the risk of some form of escalation? == but how great is the risk of some form of escalation?— but how great is the risk of some form of escalation? -- bei'ing. the risk is always * form of escalation? -- bei'ing. the risk is always there, _ form of escalation? -- bei'ing. the risk is always there, we _ form of escalation? -- beijing. the risk is always there, we have - form of escalation? -- beijing. the risk is always there, we have had i form of escalation? -- beijing. the risk is always there, we have had a| risk is always there, we have had a lot of speculation and discussion about the possibilities of these aggressive actions and something could go wrong, as we saw with missile launchers as well as the very aggressive activities going on around taiwan over the past week.

there is a possibility that you have an accident, you have some sort of inadvertent damage created by one of those actions that could lead to something more, buti those actions that could lead to something more, but i think both sides are intent on not letting this evolve into a conflict, so i think that that is a major portion of both sides' responses. both the united states and taiwan have been restrained in the types of reactions they have had, they have held up beijing's�*s aggression, but at the same time the united states has kept its forces back and they said they would not take the bait, and that is very important part this, letting taiwan or china's reaction play itself out, and hopefully at the end of the day there will be a demonstration for the domestic population to show the international community they are serious and upset

about the situation, hoping it does not escalate beyond that.- about the situation, hoping it does not escalate beyond that. thank you ve much not escalate beyond that. thank you very much for— not escalate beyond that. thank you very much for your _ not escalate beyond that. thank you very much for your time. _ 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. 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. our business correspondent, vishala sri—pathma, says the fares usually go up injanuary. they're based on the inflation figures forjuly. that's due out this week. we'll find out on wednesday what the inflation figures are. they're expected to be around ii.9%,

which clearly is pretty high. if you think about your rail commute prices going up by that much, that's quite a significant chunk. so the department for transport say that it's not going to go up by that much. so we don't know what the specific figure is going to be, but it's not going to be ii.9%. it will be lower than that. so that's sort of looking to help people with their cost of living, really. ava nte has been avante has been forced to reduce services. trains are affected. the headlines... a group of charities and community organisations have caused rises in energy bills and national emergency. labour cove energy price cap to be frozen in october that the energy minister

says the plans do not work. the son of salmon rushdie says injuries are life changing presence of humour remains intact after he was stabbed at an event in new york state. egyptian health officials say 41 people have died and a0 egyptian health officials say ai people have died and a0 injured in a fire in a coptic church in north—west cairo. today is the last of four days of the intense heat which sparked an amber weather warning for much of southern england and wales. concerns about drought and the impact on vulnerable people continue, but many have tried to make the most of it and head to the coast. however, as emma simpson's been finding out, labour shortages mean not all businesses are in a position to benefit from 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's 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's 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's 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's no shortage of customers in this town — just staff. across the uk, there's something like 176,000 vacancies in hospitality. that's 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, i you have got to give them the skills and the confidence to be with you. i 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 a year extra — extra — on energy. you know, that's £2,000 per week. he's trying to keep it simple in a sector that is bracing itself for bumpier times ahead. emma simpson, bbc news, felixstowe.

firefighters say a huge fire which tore through a popular nature reserve at studland heath in dorset in the south of england 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 forfire 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's going to potentially start a fire, try to avoid it if you possibly can. this field fire was one of 75 in essex.

it covered 91 acres, and containing it required the help of local farmers. if you were 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's frightening. in north london, this grassfire billowed smoke across the busy m25 motorway. in surrey, a different problem. 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 a 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. 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. in france, officials in the south—western gironde region have said a major fire there has been brought under control and 8,000 people can return to their homes, but another wildfire in south—central france has reignited, forcing more than 1,000 people from their homes. our correspondent, bethany bell, is in the gironde region. firefighters have brought the big blaze that was burning near here under control but they've warned that the fire isn't entirely extinguished yet and,

if you look behind me, back there in the woods, you can see what they mean — there's wisps of smoke, which is a sign that they're still burning embers on the ground or sometimes below the ground but could in the wrong circumstances be whipped up into another fire. but there is very good news for the 10,000 people that were evacuated from near here. they've been told that they can now go home after days of staying in emergency temporary housing. a teenage boy has died after going into the sea in skegness on the east coast in the uk. 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 late last night. our reporter, jessica lane, has been giving us the latest from skegness. emergency services were called

at about 6:15pm yesterday 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 the boy's body was recovered at around 11:30. 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 had 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 that 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. president zelensky says any russian soldier who fires at the zaporizhzhia 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 nuclear site or its territory must realise that they will become a special target for our intelligence special services and for our army. almost six months ago, thousands of ukrainian civilians joined the military to fight invading russian forces. among those who signed up were members of one of ukraine's top rock bands, antytila. they became army medics in kharkiv, helping to treat wounded soldiers. the bbcjoined them

as they headed to the front line. it is russian mortarfire. come on, come on, come on. yeah. here. we're here, it's ok. come on. listen. i'm 0k. i'm taras topolya, the frontman of antytila, a popular band in ukraine. now me, with my friends, serving in territorial defence forces. we are a paramedical team — paramedical squad. singing we've been playing for more than 12 years. we've released seven albums. so we had a lot of big ukrainian tours, and we had three american and canadian tours.

here, it is a front line. this is our position. this yard was destroyed by russian mortar fire. it's far away. you know, blood smells disgusting for me. and also, when this smell compares with the smell of the shelling, with the smell of the explosion, it's the most disgusting smell of my life. after doing my duties, i call my wife and my kids.

i have no tears any more. i'm tired to cry. ijust can't wake up, like a dream. i'm in a dream. and i want to wake up. wake up in my home. i don't want to lie that sometimes the sadness defeats me. i want to create a new album, a new antytila album after the war. we will need a new kind of songs. songs of happiness. with a smile on our face. if we will survive, we will do this, of course.

china is well—known for its ancient practice of acupuncture as a way to promote the healing process and general well—being. now, increasingly, pet owners are turning to the method to help soothe the aches and pains of their beloved cats and dogs. in this beijing clinic, pets of all shapes and sizes are being signed up for treatments — care that their owners say is less invasive and comes with fewer side effects than conventional treatments. recordings of gentle bamboo flute music and birds chirping are played to help the animals relax. translation: she's enjoying it. before, she used to refuse to go. now, every time i tell her we're going to visit dr lee for some treatment, she's really happy and ready to get into the car. she'll come to lie still for a0 minutes to an hour.

now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth rizzini. that of the extreme heat expires overnight tonight and cooler next week, thunderstorms around as well. there is also a met office warning as well. lots of surface water around, showers the parts of scotland, but for most places dry and warm, feeling muggy as well, temperatures dipping to the mid to high teens in celsius so uncomfortable again for sleeping. this is monday, showers across northern ireland, moving into scotland and elsewhere mostly dry start but shall spring up through the afternoon, heavy infantry in nature, someplace is staying dry, warm, particularly towards the

south—east. but even here temperatures will dip through the week. hello, this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines... a group of charities and community organisations have called the rises in energy bills a "national emergency" as labour

is to call for the energy price cap to be frozen in october.