and in an exclusive interview with the bbc, sir salman rushdie speaks about the knife attack which almost ended his life. i'm helena humphrey. glad you could join me. world leaders meeting in an emergency session at the un have warned that the middle east is on the brink — and that now is the time to de—escalate, after last night's attack on israel by iran. iran and iran—backed groups in iraq, syria and yemen launched an estimated 300 drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles towards israel. the vast majority of the projectiles were shot down by israel — with help from the us, the uk and other countries. iran said it was responding to an israeli strike earlier this month on its consulate in syria's capital damascus, that killed several iranian military commanders.

us officials say presidentjoe biden told israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, to think �*very carefully�* about his response — after israel vowed to exact a price from iran, at a time of its choosing. the un security council convened an emergency session on sunday to discuss the crisis. opening the meeting, the un's secretary—general, antonio guterres, told diplomats, "it's vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the middle east." adding, "civilians are already bearing the brunt and paying the highest price". but israel's ambassador rejected the call for the violence to stop saying, "this attack crossed every red line and israel reserves the legal right to retaliate." he said it was vital to israel's future to respond to the attack. "we are not a frog in boiling water," he said, "we are a nation of lions." but iran's ambassador defended his nation's actions — have a listen.

this concluded action was necessary and proportionate. it was precise and only targeted military— was precise and only targeted military objectives and carried out carefully to minimise the potential for escalation and to prevent— potential for escalation and to prevent civilian harm. we are never seeking to contribute to the spread of the conflict in the region, nor does it wish to escalate or spread the tensions through the entire region. let's get more from a global intelligence and security consultancy.— intelligence and security consultancy. intelligence and security consultan . ., ., consultancy. good to have you with this- _ consultancy. good to have you with this. and _ consultancy. good to have you with this. and firstly _ consultancy. good to have you with this. and firstly i - consultancy. good to have you with this. and firstly i want - with this. and firstly i want to get your assessment of what we saw last night from iran and also the level of the weaponry used here. also the level of the weaponry used here-— also the level of the weaponry used here. was a very complex attack with _ used here. was a very complex attack with 300 _ used here. was a very complex attack with 300 drones - used here. was a very complex attack with 300 drones and - attack with 300 drones and missiles on a combination of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and the proxy is also

doing their thing and the luthi is and the iraqi sheer militia groups, so impressive display of weaponry but a more impressive vessel defence display by the israelis and allies, so the region is on edge and we are at a dangerous time in the middle east and i think many are waiting to see what happens next. fits think many are waiting to see what happens next.— think many are waiting to see what happens next. as you say a tense time _ what happens next. as you say a tense time for _ what happens next. as you say a tense time for the _ what happens next. as you say a tense time for the middle - what happens next. as you say a tense time for the middle east . tense time for the middle east and the world as well. what do you think we could potentially see in the coming days? i am hoinu see in the coming days? i am heping that — see in the coming days? i am hoping that the _ see in the coming days? i am hoping that the joe _ see in the coming days? i am hoping that the joe biden - hoping that thejoe biden administration has talked cooler heads into prevailing within israel. i think some of the reporting and suggesting that the israelis wanted to immediately launch a counterattack which likely would have been devastating and we don't know what the targets were and some have suggested it could be iranian nuclear sites on uranium soils and the biden

administration was able to walk it back with the israeli prime minister but the israelis will respond and respond with force and it could likely be a combination of physical or kinetic tax combined with cyber attacks as well.— attacks as well. what do you think it means _ attacks as well. what do you think it means for _ attacks as well. what do you think it means for us - attacks as well. what do you | think it means for us support when we know there's been the warning from the white house saying they will not be part of the reprisal? i saying they will not be part of the reprisal?— the reprisal? i think that is the reprisal? i think that is the message _ the reprisal? i think that is the message that - the reprisal? i think that is the message that the - the reprisal? i think that is i the message that the united states is attempting to send, that we have got your back but we are putting parameters around what happens next. it's around what happens next. it's a nightmare scenario for washington if this escalates into a broader regional conflagration and i've said for the past couple of months we are already in a low boil regional war and the temperature has been ratcheted up temperature has been ratcheted up significantly and the last thing the biden administration wants is an all—out war in the middle east in an election year

which would be a nightmare for joe biden and a lot of people would die, let's not lose track of the humanitarian piece. we are talking about gaza on the back burner where there is a famine and tens of thousands of civilian casualties so just a total mess now and by most measures even by the standards of a fairly volatile middle east we are in a bad place. fine east we are in a bad place. one nuance i wanted _ east we are in a bad place. one nuance i wanted to _ east we are in a bad place. one nuance i wanted to ask - east we are in a bad place. one nuance i wanted to ask you about isjordan with regards to the defence of israel. what did you make of that? the jordanians _ you make of that? the jordanians are - you make of that? the jordanians are in - you make of that? the l jordanians are in difficult jordanians are in difficult position and since october the 7th they have said to their population that there is nothing we can do about the palestinians and we are helpless in court in the middle but at the same time they were able to come to the defence of israel and they will have questions to answer from the so—called arab street about why

they were so quick to defend they were so quick to defend the israelis but they've not been seen to be doing a lot for the palestinian population so jordan is in a tough spot and will have to answer a lot of questions in the coming days and weeks. i questions in the coming days and weeks-— and weeks. i wanted to ask about other _ and weeks. i wanted to ask about other groups - and weeks. i wanted to ask about other groups and - and weeks. i wanted to ask about other groups and if. and weeks. i wanted to ask. about other groups and if you see the potential for involvement and to help their own goals here as well if there is the potential for that? absolutely. the interesting part of this we can �*s attack was the iranian have that proxies on the sidelines and wanted to show that this was an iranian attack from their soil which is largely unprecedented but however if it was a more coordinated attack with the full fees and iraqi sheer militia getting into the mix, it could have been more devastating for the israelis

and if you think about the telegraphing here, we were talking about an imminent attack for about a week and these rows are well prepared and the allies were well prepared but what happens in the case of a surprise attack with the proxies involved? that 99% interception rate might not be that high and we could have seen a far more devastating situation and then it would have been difficult for the biden administration to hold the israelis back from a far more forceful counterattack. i5 more forceful counterattack. is an important question to raise. very good to talk to you and thank you. for the first time in us history, a president will face a criminal trial. on monday the first of four criminal trials against donald trump gets under way in new york. monday's trial will examine 3a counts of fraud, related to hush money

payments he paid to an adult film star before the 2016 election. prosecutors say he arranged payments to stormy daniels in an effort to buy her silence in the run up to the 2016 presidential election, and allege that he falsified business records in violation of campaign finance laws. first, jury selection will take place. which could take days or even weeks. i2 chosen individuals will then consider what could be the only criminal case mr trump encounters before the 2024 us presidential election in november. mr trump, who is the presumptive republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty in the case. he argues that the allegations he faces are not criminal. unlike previous civil cases he's encountered, mr trump is expected to attend almost every day of the court proceedings. that could disrupt his presidential campaign for the duration of the six—to—eight week trial. speaking alongside us house speaker mikejohnson on friday, the former us president said he's ready to testify on the stand.

i testify and i will tell the truth and all i can do is tell the truth and the truth is they have no case, and again, you have to read the scholars, all of the legal scholars. i haven't seen one legal scholar that says this is a case and even new people said it was too bad this is the first one. all of them are scams. they are all about election interference. it could be a tense trial. mr trump has expressed his hatred for manhattan supreme courtjustice juan merchan who is overseeing the trial. that resulted in a gag order against mr trump in late march, barring him from making public statements about court staff, jurors, witnesses and lawyers in the district attorney's office — or theirfamilies. yet — on saturday, donald trump attacked yet, on saturday, donald trump attacked his former attorney, michael cohen. mr cohen is expected to be the prosecution's star witness. other key witnesses include former media executive, david pecker, who helped cover up the alleged affair, and he testified before a grand

jury in 2023. trump s press secretary during the 2020 presidential campaign, hope hicks. she could shed light on what was happening inside the political operation in the final weeks before the 2016 election. former playboy model, karen mcdougal, who told cnn she had an affair with the former president that began in 2006 — which trump denies. prosecutors in new york cited evidence of payments made to her by trump. and of course, the woman at the center of the trial, stormy daniels. while no cameras will be allowed the courtroom, donald trump is expected to try to use the media attention to his advantage as he again eyes the white house. i'm joined by a political and investigations reporter at the guardian covering donald trump and the justice guardian covering donald trump and thejustice department, so let's start with tomorrow and jury let's start with tomorrow and jury selection and i wonder how difficult a task it will be

because they have to find people who are impartial in all of this and donald trump is a polarising figure.— polarising figure. that's ri . ht. polarising figure. that's right. we're _ polarising figure. that's right. we're going - polarising figure. that's right. we're going to i polarising figure. that's i right. we're going to start with jury selection tomorrow and it will be hard to find 12 people six alternates to serve and the prosecution and defence will be looking at this from completely different angles and for the prosecution they want people more likely to look at the facts and law and make an impartial decision in their favour but meanwhile the trump team will look for the one juror he might hang thejury because they are not convinced about some of the evidence and it might play into his hands and we will go through a long process of whittling down groups of potentialjurors groups of potential jurors tomorrow groups of potentialjurors tomorrow with all sorts of questions for them to figure out how they might live. find out how they might live. and then the prosecution - out how they might live. and then the prosecution has the task of trying to thread the

needle and do something to do with book—keeping and show the link with regards to campaign financing law. help us thread the needle and how they might make the argument? the argument that the prosecutors _ make the argument? the argument that the prosecutors will _ make the argument? the argument that the prosecutors will make - that the prosecutors will make a trial is twofold. number one that trump falsified his business records in trying to cover up the hush money payments as they were recorded as legal expenses or retainers for michael karen in the former fix and lawyer who facilitated payments to use stormy daniels in the prosecutors want to take it further because they want to say it's not about falsifying business records it's in furtherance of a second crime and if you can tie a second crime under new york state law it will turn into a felony and thenit it will turn into a felony and then it will be the federal election state election campaign finance violations and their whole argument is to say

that trump will try to bury the negative stories about his affair and sexual encounters in the past because he realises this would damage his presidential campaign and in doing so he impacted the outcome of the election. we know donald _ outcome of the election. we know donald trump denies this and because this all a witch hunt. how do you expect him to navigate it? is it likely this is why he takes to the stand? we will see. i'm not holding my breath. you typically see defendants in high profile criminal cases say they will testify and clear their name and sunny vigorous defence lawyers will encourage that. with the tate —— case of donald trump it's difficult because he has a history of getting on the stand and then making comments that incriminate himself and i think the trump lawyers will be very adamant in trying to have him not testify in his own defence because of that history and by making the promise early

on as it gives him cover because if he does not testify he will say the lawyers talked me out of it so i wanted to but i followed me out of it so i wanted to but ifollowed my me out of it so i wanted to but i followed my lawyers advise and i imagine that is how we will go in this trial. i and i imagine that is how we will go in this trial.— will go in this trial. i know ou've will go in this trial. i know you've been _ will go in this trial. i know you've been covering - will go in this trial. i know you've been covering the l will go in this trial. i know - you've been covering the case for a long time. how seminal do you feel this moment is? it’s you feel this moment is? it's very moment _ you feel this moment is? it's very moment -- _ you feel this moment is? it�*s very moment —— momentous for this country. never have we had a current or former president stand trial on criminal charges and she said at the beginning of the segment, this could be the one and only tile —— trial he faces before the 2024 election he has otherfederal cases mired in delays and the other is the federaljanuary the six case brought in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and there is the fourth case in georgia that's almost certainly not going to go to trial before the 2024 election because that's been

mired in delays so if there is a case he has to answer for before the voters head to the ballot box it might be this and it might be the one thing that really swings the outcome of this election.— this election. thank you so much for — this election. thank you so much for running - this election. thank you so much for running this - this election. thank you so i much for running this through all of that. this is bbc news. the biggest names in theatre gathered for the olivier awards at the royal albert hall in london. the oliviers celebrate the best of british theatre and is the industry's most prestigious awards ceremony. mark gatiss won the best actor award for his role in �*the motive and the cue' and sarah snook won the best actress prize for her one—woman show, �*the picture of dorian gray'. she spoke about what it's like to act 26 different roles in the play.

it's been a huge challenge and i've loved every moment of it. i think it's a very fulfilling challenge at the time to switch off on in no time to think about anything and if i do, i have to drag myself onto the centre line because the show will slip and it's all over. and the prerecord keeps on rocking and i cannot step out of line. for a second year in a row, actress hannah waddingham hosted the awards. she is best known for her role in apple tv�*s comedy ted lasso. you're live with bbc news. sir salman rushdie has spoken in chilling detail to the bbc about the knife attack which almost ended his life. the acclaimed author was stabbed 12 times on stage in new york two years ago. he said he thought he was dying, and the loss of sight in one of his eyes upsets him every day. he was speaking to the bbc s alan yentob in new york, before the publication of his new memoir about the aftermath of the attack.

oh, my god! author salman rushdie has been stabbed. more breaking news tonight after author| salman rushdie was attacked. august 2022. one of the world's most famous authors is left fighting for his life. it has shocked the entire world. author salman rushdie attacked. he was dressed in dark clothing and he had like a black covid mask. and he just came sprinting up the stairs. in a major tv interview, he tells me what he remembers. i actually thought he'd punched me very hard. i didn't realise there was a knife in his hand. and then i saw the blood and i realised there was a weapon. and then he just started, i think he wasjust slashing wildly at everything. so there was a very big slash, here across my neck as well as the stab wound here. and there were wounds down by the middle of my torso, one, two, three like that and the two on the side over here. and then there was the wound in my eye, which was quite deep.

it looked terrible. i mean, it was very distended, swollen, and it was kind of hanging out of my face, sitting on my cheek, like a soft boiled egg. and... and blind. while this was happening, something extraordinary happened in that the audience jumped onto the stage and... ..saved my life. talk about heroism. that's heroism. i was lying there on the ground, bleeding profusely. and i'm thinking, "i want my house keys." and i think that was that survival instinct that was saying to me, "you're going to live." live. ijust remember the sounds of the machines and the - ventilator breathing for him. that's what i remember. and i thought, you know, at least he's come - through this surgery. i thought at least i'm not .

a widow, is what i thought. rushdie's life has been threatened before. in 1989, after the publication of the satanic verses, the iranian supreme leader, ayatollah khomeini, issued a death threat, a fatwa calling the book an insult to islam. i come to think of that whole episode as being ancient history, as i say in the book. so i felt like a time traveler. i felt like somebody coming out of the past to attack me in the present. and so one of the first things i thought when i saw him coming at me and i thought, "oh, it's you, you know, so it's you." the man accused of carrying out the attack is hadi matar from new jersey. the man accused of carrying out the attack is hadi matar from newjersey. he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. he took very little trouble to inform himself about the man he was planning to kill. he said he'd read a couple of pages. he didn't say of what, and that he'd watched a couple of youtube videos and decided

that i was disingenuous, disingenuous and therefore right to kill. there's a sentence in the book where i say that language is a knife. you know, language is a way of cutting things open and revealing the truth. calling this book knife is notjust a description of the attack against me. the book is the knife. the book is my kmife and it's my way of fighting back. well i spoke to alan earlier to talk more about his exclusive interview with sir salman. thank you for taking the time and speaking to us today. i understand that your friendship with sir salman rushdie goes back decades. i am just wondering, in conducting this interview, and having this conversation with him if there was anything you learnt about him this time, anything that surprised you. i don't know if it surprised me but i tell you what i felt was his incredible courage. he has faced up to this and it could have been

something so devastating that he would have to give up writing and he considered that. the wounds were extraordinary. there were 12 strikes with a knife, slashing his face, his neck, his hand and his eye and he lost the sight in his right eye. it was devastating. he had had and that is for freedom of speech. you have known sir salman rushdie for such a long time, before the fatwa and afterwards as well. and knowing all of the danger, what do you think it is that propels him and drives him? i think his belief in the values that writers should be allowed to write, that freedom of expression is essential, but it's more and more at risk as

we are seeing what is going on around the world and freedom of speech is now more at risk than it was before. and i have to say this is a horror story and a love story. because he has been supported by his wife, eliza, throughout this, day and night for months on end and i think he's grateful for that and i don't know if your listeners and viewers know that president biden gave an extraordinary speech supporting salman rushdie and praising those people who jumped on stage and saying that this was the man who was a champion of freedom of speech and he needed to be protected and there was no one else quite like him. talking about that courage as salman rushdie had been living under the fatwa for 25 years under the spectre of a death threat

and knowing him through that time, was it something where you felt he was cognisant of the whole time? what would he have been feeling taking to the stage on that night? let me explain the what happened in the early years, for 12 or 15 years, he could go nowhere without security and men with guns by him. he literally had to live with them and every time on the occasions that we saw him, myself and my wife visiting him, there were always men with guns at the door and when he eventually went to america about 23 years ago, he went determined that he was going to recover his life and he was called a party animal and god knows what, but he did

and he had been used to being free and he had not expected there and as anybody knows in many organisations including the bbc normally you have to go through some kind of routine to get in and in fact it was discovered that the attacker had a bag of knives with him that were not discovered. finally, because of the friendship, the enduring friendships that you have with sir salman rushdie, i understand he confided something in you with regards to a sense he had before the event. tell me that. two nights before the event, salman had a dream, or i should saya nightmare, in which he dreamt he was in amphitheatre and where this happened is sn amphitheatre and he was attacked

by a gladiator with a spear. it's a bit like the gladiator film of ridley scott and he woke up shouting and rolling around in his bed and his wife said that this was a premonition and he must not go. but in the end he realised he was there to speak about these values that were so important to him and in the end he decided to go and he went and what he had dreamt in this nightmare happened. truly extraordinary. thank you very much for sharing your insights with us. this is bbc news. hello there. some turbulent weather ahead for the next day or two.

low pressure's driving in off the atlantic, giving heavy thundery and intense showers, spray, standing water. so tricky conditions on the roads, particularly adding in the strength of the wind. look at the tightly packed isobars. there will be strong to gale force winds buffeting the uk during much of monday into tuesday and it's coming down from the north—west. in fact, as we head towards tuesday, it starts to come down from the north. so it will feel much colder than it has, temperatures below average. so we've got some heavy showery rain pushing its way south. on the weather front and lots of heavy showers following behind in colder air, so snow over the mountains. it takes longest to get to southern and eastern areas, but temperatures hold up above freezing because of the strength of the wind, which takes us through the day today. this line of really intense rain is giving some tricky travel conditions, the winds picking up to strong gale force around the coasts in the west and the south and lots of showers with hail, with thunder, with snow over the hills and mountains across northern ireland, scotland, possibly

the pennines. look at the temperatures, just 9—12 degrees celsius and it will feel colder still when you add on that wind that will be buffeting the uk. so squally winds near those showers which continue well into the night and into tuesday. by that stage our low pressure is moving out into the north sea. so the winds come down from the north again, enough of it, we think, to prevent a frost in many areas, just like we'll see in the morning, the glens of scotland, really. but that cold northerly wind will continue to feed showers into particularly central and eastern areas, fewer further west. but there will be because of the north westerly, some coming into the west of scotland and into northern ireland, but perhaps fewer showers in the west generally compared with monday. but a bracing wind in the north sea coast, 40 or 50 mile an hour gusts of wind still holding on for the likes of east anglia. so again, it will feel cold despite — 12—14 inland. i suppose outside the wind, outside the showers with more sunshine around it will feel a little more like mid april. but we have to get to the end of the week to see high pressure building in because still on wednesday

we've got low pressure in charge towards the east. these weather fronts rounding western areas, just giving patchy rain or drizzle. so things start to settle down later. in fact, temperatures pick up as we head towards friday as well.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour,

which is straight after this programme. ecuador�*s government has, in effect, declared war on its gangs. here in the capital, soldiers carry out their our daily patrols. they've made more than 16,000 arrests in three months. it's incredible to see quito, a city that used to see quito, a city that used to be very quiet and very touristic like this with this

amount of