we will talk about what it means for his bid for the white house. 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. iran said it was responding to a strike earlier this month on its consulate in damascus that killed several iranian military commanders. us officials say thatjoe biden told the israeli

prime minister to think carefully about his response after israel vowed to exact a price from iran at a time of its choosing. there has been an emergency meeting of the security council where it was said that it is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontation on multiple fronts in the middle east. 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." iran's ambassador said it was necessary and proportionate and carried out carefully to minimise the potential for escalation. they may try to overwhelm air defences with multiple ways of drones and missiles but the advance defence system destroyed most in the air with the help of allies. how is israel able to defend itself with the help of allies? first, they knew about

the attack. it was telegraphed in advance. but the scale was significant with more than 300 weapons fired. including more than 170 armed drones. 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles which can travel twice the speed of sound. most of those were fired from iran itself, the first time iran has directly attacked israel from its own territory. but the us says somewhere also launched from iraq, syria and yemen. . . , launched from iraq, syria and yemen. . ., , ., yemen. iran has demonstrated it has an appetite _ yemen. iran has demonstrated it has an appetite for _ yemen. iran has demonstrated it has an appetite for risk _ yemen. iran has demonstrated it has an appetite for risk but - yemen. iran has demonstrated it has an appetite for risk but it - has an appetite for risk but it does not have an appetite for others. it wanted to impose a cost on the other side without triggering a broader escalation and all—out confrontation. haw and all-out confrontation. how were they _ and all-out confrontation. how were they stopped? _ and all—out confrontation. how were they stopped? both israel and the united states were warned and prepared. american destroyers positioned in the eastern mediterranean shot down several ballistic missiles. raf

typhoons flying from cyprus shot down a number of drones. as did usjets and fighters from jordan. israel itself has some of the most advanced air defences providing layers of protection. it's missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles from hundreds of miles away. david's sling as the next area of defence and then there is a short—range iron dome. these pictures from jerusalem show the orange dome in action. the last line of defence. ultimately israel spent billions of dollars to be prepared for exactly this scenario with the help of its allies to neutralise what could have been a much more consequential attack. israel sa s consequential attack. israel says most _ consequential attack. israel says most of _ consequential attack. israel says most of what - consequential attack. israel says most of what iran - consequential attack. israelj says most of what iran fired was destroyed even before it reached its territory. here is one that was shot down over iraqi. but there was one

exception, anna rainey and missile did get through it defences and hit an air base. confirmation that it was targeting military sites. but in this case it caused limited damage. this was a calculated attack by iran using just a fraction of its firepower. enough to send a message but not enough to overwhelm israel's air defences. for more israel's air defences. for more i spoke to colin clark the director of research at a global intelligence and security consultancy. firstly could i get your assessment of what we saw last night from iran and also the level of the weaponry used here? figs iran and also the level of the weaponry used here?- weaponry used here? as you mentioned — weaponry used here? as you mentioned it _ weaponry used here? as you mentioned it was _ weaponry used here? as you mentioned it was a - weaponry used here? as you mentioned it was a complexl mentioned it was a complex attack. 300 drones and missiles and a combination of cruise and ballistic missiles. the proxies also did their thing, the houthi and has full and iraqi

militia groups. an impressive display of weaponry and an even more impressive missal defence displayed by israel and its allies. the region is on edge and we are in a dangerous time for the middle east and i think many are waiting to see what happens next. figs many are waiting to see what happens next-— happens next. as you say a tense time _ happens next. as you say a tense time for _ happens next. as you say a tense time for the - happens next. as you say a tense time for the middle l happens next. as you say a i tense time for the middle east and for the world as well. what do you think we could potentially see in the coming days? i potentially see in the coming da s? ., , ., �* days? i hope that the biden administration _ days? i hope that the biden administration has - days? i hope that the biden administration has talked . days? i hope that the biden i administration has talked cool heads into prevailing within israel. some reporting suggest that israelis want to immediately launch a counter—attack which likely would have been devastating. we do not know what the targets were. some suggested could be iranian nuclear sites on a rainy and soil. the administration, the biden administration, the biden administration was able to walk that back with the israeli

prime minister benjamin netanyahu that the israelis will respond and they will respond with force. it could be a combination combination of physical and kinetic attacks combined with cyber attacks as well. ~ ., ., ,, combined with cyber attacks as well. ~ ., ., , ., ~' combined with cyber attacks as well. ~ ., ., ~ ., well. what do you think that then means _ well. what do you think that then means for _ well. what do you think that then means for us - well. what do you think that then means for us support i well. what do you think that - then means for us support when we know there has been that warning from the white house saying that we will not be part of that reprisal?— of that reprisal? that is the message — of that reprisal? that is the message the _ of that reprisal? that is the message the united - of that reprisal? that is the message the united states| of that reprisal? that is the i message the united states is attempting to send. that we have your back but we are also putting parameters around what happens next. it is a nightmare scenario if this escalates into a broader regional conflagration. forthe a broader regional conflagration. for the past few months i have said we are already in a low regional war and the temperature has been ratcheted up significantly in the last thing the biden administration wants is an all—out war in the middle east during an election year. that would be a nightmare for biden and many people would die. let's not lose track of the

humanitarian piece of there. we also put gaza on the back burner where there is still a famine on the precipice and tens of thousands of civilian casualties. sojust tens of thousands of civilian casualties. so just a total mess right now. by most measures, even by the standards of a fully volatile middle east, we are in a bad place right now. i east, we are in a bad place right nova— right now. i wanted to ask about jordan _ right now. i wanted to ask about jordan in _ right now. i wanted to ask about jordan in regard - right now. i wanted to ask about jordan in regard to l aboutjordan in regard to defence of israel. what you make of that?— defence of israel. what you make of that? the jordanians are in a very _ make of that? the jordanians are in a very difficult - are in a very difficult position. forthe are in a very difficult position. for the last six months since october seven they have said to their own population there is nothing we can do about palestinians, we are helpless and caught in the middle here. at the same time they were able to come to the defence of israel and i think they will have a lot of questions to answer from the so—called arab street about why they were so quick to defend israelis but they have not been seen to be doing a lot for the

palestinian population. jordan are in a tough spot and probably will have to answer a lot of questions in the coming days and weeks. i lot of questions in the coming days and weeks.— lot of questions in the coming days and weeks. i also wanted to ask about _ days and weeks. i also wanted to ask about hezbollah - days and weeks. i also wanted to ask about hezbollah and - days and weeks. i also wanted | to ask about hezbollah and the houthis and if there is potential for involvement and also to help their own goals here as well. is there potential for that? here as well. is there otential for that? ~ , ,., , potential for that? absolutely. i think the _ potential for that? absolutely. i think the really _ potential for that? absolutely. i think the really interesting i i think the really interesting part of this week and's attack was that the iranians had the proxies on sidelines. they wanted to show the israelis that this was an iranians attack from iranian soil which is largely unprecedented. however, if it was a more co—ordinated attack with the houthis, with hezbollah and the sheer militia getting into the mix more forcefully it could have been far more devastating for the israelis. you also need to think about the telegraphing here. we were talking about an

imminent attack for about a week. israelis were well prepared, the allies were well prepared. what happens in the case of a surprise attack with the proxies involved as well? that 99% interception rate may not be that high and we could have seen a far more devastating situation and there it would have been very difficult for the biden administration to hold the israelis back from a full forced counter—attack. for israelis back from a full forced counter-attack. for the first time _ forced counter-attack. for the first time in — forced counter-attack. for the first time in us _ forced counter-attack. for the first time in us history - forced counter-attack. for the first time in us history a - first time in us history a president will face a criminal trial and on monday the first four criminal trials against donald trump get 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. twelve 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 courtjusticejuan 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 their families. 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 — 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 centre 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. earlier i spoke to a political investigations reporter at the guardian. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. let's start with tomorrow. the jury selection. how difficult a task do you think that will be because they have to find people who are impartial in all of this and of course donald trump is a polarising figure. we start tomorrow with jury selection and it will be a task to find 12 people and six elton's to serve in the

prosecution and defence will be looking at this from completely different angles. for the prosecution they want people who are more likely to look at the facts and make an impartial decision in theirfavour the facts and make an impartial decision in their favour and trump's team will be looking for thatjuror trump's team will be looking for that juror who trump's team will be looking for thatjuror who may trump's team will be looking for that juror who may hang thisjury for that juror who may hang this jury because they are not convinced about some of the evidence and may play into trump's hand so it will be a long process to whittle down groups of potentialjurors groups of potential jurors tomorrow groups of potentialjurors tomorrow with all sorts of questions to figure out how it may end. questions to figure out how it ma end. �* . ., may end. and in the prosecution does have _ may end. and in the prosecution does have the _ may end. and in the prosecution does have the task _ may end. and in the prosecution does have the task of _ may end. and in the prosecution does have the task of trying - may end. and in the prosecution does have the task of trying to i does have the task of trying to thread the needle here and make something that has to do with bookkeeping and show that link in regard to allegations with campaign financing law. can you help us thread the needle and how that argument may be made? the argument to be made at trial is twofold. number one that trump falsified his

business records for the trump organisation to try and cover up organisation to try and cover up hush money payments that were recorded as legal expenses or retainers for michael cowan, his formerfixer and or retainers for michael cowan, his former fixer and lawyer who facilitated the payments to stormy daniel. was acute as want to take that a step further. they want to say it is notjust further. they want to say it is not just about falsifying records it was falsifying his nurse records in furtherance of a second crime and if you can prove that in terms the crime into a felony in the crime they identified is a federal election state election campaign finance violations. their argument is to say, effectively, donald trump will try to bury these negative stories about his affair and about his sexual encounters in the past because he realised they would damage his presidential campaign in 2016 and in doing so he impacted the outcome of the election. for his art outcome of the election. for his part we _ outcome of the election. for his part we know— outcome of the election. for his part we know that donald trump denies this and calls it a witch hunt. how do you expect him to navigate this? do you think it likely he take to the

stand? ~ , ., ., stand? we will see. i do not hold my _ stand? we will see. i do not hold my breath. _ stand? we will see. i do not hold my breath. typically i stand? we will see. i do notl hold my breath. typically you see defendants in high—profile criminal cases before they go to trial saying that i will testify and clear my name and vigorous defence lawyers may encourage that. but with this case it is difficult because donald trump has a history of getting on the stand and making comments that later incriminate himself and, secondly, in this case i think the lawyers will be adamant in trying to have him not testify on his own defence because of that history and by making this promise early on before the trial gets started to gives him a bit of cover because he can later say that if he does not testify that if he does not testify thatis that if he does not testify that is lawyers talked him out of it and he can say that he wanted to testify but he followed lawyers advise and i imagine that is how they will go in this trial. i imagine that is how they will go in this trial.— imagine that is how they will go in this trial. i know you've been covering _ go in this trial. i know you've been covering this _ go in this trial. i know you've been covering this case - go in this trial. i know you've been covering this case for. go in this trial. i know you've been covering this case for a | been covering this case for a long time. how seminal do you feel this moment is? it is long time. how seminal do you feel this moment is?— feel this moment is? it is a momentous _ feel this moment is? it is a momentous moment - feel this moment is? it is a momentous moment for i feel this moment is? it is al momentous moment for the country. never before have we

had a current or former president stand trial for criminal charges. as you said at the beginning of the segment, this could be the one and only trial that donald trump faces before the 2024 election. he has two other federal cases mired in delays for various reasons, want to do with classified documents at his resort in faraz tahir, the other is a january 6 case. and and fourth case in georgia that is almost certain to not go to trial before the 24 election because that have been mired in delay. so if there is one criminal case that he has to answer for before voters head to the ballot box and maybe this and it may be the one thing that really swings the outcome of this election to our political investigations reporter from the washington bureau of the guardian. thank ou so bureau of the guardian. thank you so much — bureau of the guardian. thank you so much for— bureau of the guardian. thank you so much for running - bureau of the guardian. thank you so much for running us - you so much for running us through all of that. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's look at another story making news. the biggest names in theatre gathered for the 0livier awards at the royal albert hall in london. the 0liviers 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 twelve 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! today at six. author salman rushdie has been stabbed. more breaking news tonightl 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 was just 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 traveller. 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 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 knife and it's

my way of fighting back. that was alan yentob. well, i spoke to alan earlier to talk more about his exclusive interview with sir salman. they have known each other for decades and i asked what more he learned about the author since the attack. 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. but he remains committed to the principles and values

he always had and espoused and that is for freedom of speech. 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 what happened but there were no precautions 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 say a nightmare, in which he dreamt he was in amphitheatre and where this happened is an 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 from all of us here in washington. have a very good evening. 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 and standing water, so tricky conditions on the roads, particularly when you add 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 and 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 southwards on a weather front. lots of heavy showers following in 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 rains 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's 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 northwesterly, 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—50 mph 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.

v0|ce—0ver: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk.

i'm stephen sackur. acting is both an art and a craft. the words are written elsewhere, the action is directed by another but, ultimately, the power of the performance rests on the actor's ability to inhabit the role. so, what does it take to succeed in this precarious profession? well, my guest today, eddie marsan, is one of the uk's most recognisable and popular actors across stage and screen. his roots are genuinely working class and that is something of a rarity in the performing arts. why?