he says iran suffered a �*double defeat�* after its attack failed. and the first ever criminal trial of a former us president will begin in new york on monday, whenjurors are selected for donald trump's hush money case. let's return to our top story. there's a warning from the un secretary—general antonio guterres that it's time to "step back from the brink". after iran's attack on israel late on saturday. he was speaking at an emergency meeting of the un where representatives from the uk and us condemned the attacks by iran, but made it clear that they didn't want to see any further escalation. britain's foreign secretary, lord cameron, said israel should recognise iran's attack has been a failure and not respond. we have heard from the german chancellor who has warned of israel

and another attack. they repelled iran's attack, which was impressive. he says, it was a success which shouldn't be given away easily, hence our advice for the israeli government to be part of the de—escalation. let's take a closer look at the strikes on saturday night. iran may have appeared to try and overwhelm israel's air defences with multiple waves of drones and missiles. but israel's advanced defence system destroyed most of them in the air, with the help of its western allies. our defence correspondent jonathan beale has more. so how is israel able to defend itself with the help of its 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 sand. most of those

were fired from iran which can travel twice the speed of sound. most of those were fired from iran itself, the first time iran's directly attacked israel from its own territory. but the us says some were also launched from iraq, syria and yemen. iran has demonstrated that it has an appetite for risk, but it doesn't have an appetite for too much risk. it wanted to impose a cost on the other side without necessarily triggering a broader escalation and an all out confrontation. so how were they stopped? well, both israel and the us 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 us jets and fighters from jordan. israel itself has some of the world's most advanced air defences, providing layers of protection, its arrow missiles capable of intercepting

ballistic missiles from hundreds of miles away. david sling is the next layer of defence with a range of more than 100 miles, and then it has its shorter range iron dome. these pictures over jerusalem show the iron dome in action. the last line of defence. i mean, ultimately, israel spent billions of dollars to be prepared for exactly this scenario, had the help of its allies and very much neutralized what could have been a much more consequential attack. israel says most of what iran fired was destroyed even before it reached its territory. here's one that was shot down over iraq. but there was one exception. an iranian missile did get through its defences, hitting 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. 2024 is the year of elections with at least 50 countries around the world going to the polls. but when it comes to the numbers — one stands above the rest. india's general election to be held over six weeks between 19 april and istjune — is set to be the biggest the world has ever seen. 969 million people will be taking to the polls — roughly one in eight of the global population. prime minister narendra modi is hoping to win a third successive term. so with the final week of campaigning before polls open — let's head to samira hussain who is in rajasthan. what is it looking like for prime minister modi and his ruling party? i am in the swing state of rajasthan. this has gone for both

parties at different times throughout the history of this country. but right now it is under bgp leadership. you can see some flags behind me, but if you go round the corner it is absolutely littered with bgp plaques. itjust shows you how fiercely that the bgp is campaigning for this state. 0nly part of the state is going to be voting at the end of the week, when the first days of voting takes place. it is important to remember that for the bjp, even though prime minister narendra modi is heavily favoured to win a third consecutive term, they are fighting and they are contesting in every constituency they can. really making a push to gain as many seats as possible. what gain as many seats as possible. what are some of — gain as many seats as possible. what are some of the _ gain as many seats as possible. what are some of the key _ gain as many seats as possible. what are some of the key election issues on the minds of the voters? you and i have spoken _ on the minds of the voters? you and i have spoken many _ on the minds of the voters? you and i have spoken many times _ on the minds of the voters? you and i have spoken many times before - i have spoken many times before about the economy. that is certainly

about the economy. that is certainly a feature in their selection. as it is in elections around the world. although the indian economy is supposed to be among the top five in the next decade or so, there is still a few economic issues that are pressing for the people here. something you see around the world is inflation and just how expensive it is for basics, like food. the other issue plaguing india is the unemployment situation, it is quite high, especially for young people. and then there are the social freedoms and if you listen to what the opposition party has said, is they say, look, this is something that has really eroded quite a bit under prime minister men narendra modi. you see freedoms especially for minorities in this country, the muslim population. if you look at the kinds of pressure the pressure

has been under or any opposition parties. of course, the bjp would counter those claims by the opposition. but even independent organisations have really highlighted the increasingly authoritarian tone of the bjp government. authoritarian tone of the bjp government-— authoritarian tone of the bjp covernment. ., ~ , ., , . government. thank you very much indeed. breaking news, the singapore prime minister will relinquish his office on the 15th of may 202a. he will formally advise the president to appoint a deputy prime minister and ministerforfinance to appoint a deputy prime minister and minister for finance to succeed him. so the breaking news of the singapore prime minister stepping down on the 15th of may. donald trump will become the first former us president to stand trial in a criminal case, when he steps into court in new york later. mr trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush—money payment made to the former adult film star stormy daniels, before the 2016 election. the former president has pleaded not guilty, if convicted he faces four years injail.

my colleague in washington helena humphrey has a preview on everything you need to know before the trial gets under way. for the first time in us history, a president will face a criminal trial and 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 that donald trump paid to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election. prosecutors say that he arranged payments to stormy daniels in an effort to buy her silence in the run up to the presidential election and alleged that he falsified business records in violation of campaign finance laws. well, first, jury selection will take place. it could take days, perhaps even weeks. 12 chosen individuals will then consider what could be the only criminal case that mr trump encounters before the 2024 us presidential election in november. now, donald trump, who is the presumptive republican presidential nominee,

has pleaded not guilty in the case, and he argues that the allegations that he faces are not criminal. and unlike previous civil cases that he's encountered, mr trump is expected to attend almost every day of the court proceedings, and that could disrupt his presidential campaign for the duration of the sixto eight week trial. speaking alongside us, house speaker mikejohnson on friday, the former us president says that he is ready to testify on the stand. i'm testifying, i tell the truth. i mean, all i can do is tell the truth. and the truth is that there's no case. they have no case. and again, you have to read the scholars, read all of the legal scholars. i haven't seen one legal scholar that said this is a case. and in fact, even you people said, oh, gee, that's too bad, this is the first one. all of them are scams. they're 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, and that resulted in a gag order against donald trump in late march, barring him

from making public statements about court staff, jurors, witnesses and lawyers in the district attorney's office or even their families. but on saturday, donald trump attacked his former attorney, michael cohen. mr cohen is expected to be the prosecution's star witness. and other key witnesses include former media executive david pecker, who helped cover up the alleged affair. he testified before a grand jury in 2023. also, 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. and former playboy model karen mcdougal, who told cnn that she had had an affair with the former president that began in 2006, something that donald trump denies. prosecutors in new york cited evidence of payments made to her by mr trump. and of course, the woman at the center of the trial, stormy daniels. and while no cameras will be allowed inside the courtroom, donald trump is expected to try to use the media attention

to his advantage as he once again eyes the white house. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

let's get more on police in australia saying it's "obvious" that a man who fatally stabbed six people at a shopping centre in sydney was targeting women. five of the six victims were female. another 12 people, including a baby, were injured. 0ur sydney correspondent katy watson reports. across australia, flags are flying at half mast, honouring the victims of saturday's attack. the names of all of those who died have now been released. this was pikria darchia — originally from georgia, she spoke several languages. dawn singleton was a 25—year—old planning her imminent wedding.

jade young was a 47—year—old architect, motherand member of a surf life—saving club. osteopath ashlee good died protecting her nine—month—old baby. police say the little girl has improved significantly, and could be on a regular hospital ward within days. yixuan cheng, a chinese student — her picture is yet to be released. and this was security guard faraz tahir — the only man killed as he tried to intervene in the attack. he had moved here from pakistan. assailantjoel cauchi, who was shot dead by a police officer, had a history of mental illness — but authorities continue to search for motives, including whether he was targeting women. well, the videos speak for themselves, don't they? and that's certainly a line of inquiry for us. it's obvious to me, it's obvious to detectives, that that seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men. as you know — that has been reported — five of the deceased are women,

and the majority of victims in hospital are also women. stories behind the bravery of the shoppers during the attack are also emerging. damien geurot from france confronted the killer with a bollard. i saw the guy. somebody on the floor with a lot of blood. and i saw one girl actually from the balcony get stabbed. and... and then it's like, when i saw him running, it's like, you're not... i saw him running, so i have to follow him, of course. police have now finished their immediate investigations here at the westfield shopping centre, but it remains closed today. amid the stories of bravery and developments in the investigation, the focus for many is on remembering the victims of an attack that's shaken the country. 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, ahead of the publication of his new memoir about the aftermath of the attack. oh, my god! screaming. today at six, 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 hejust 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... 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 the middle of my torso — one, two, three — like that. and there are 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...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. you were worried about your credit cards and your... oh, yeah — this is... no, when i was lying there on the ground, bleeding profusely, and i'm thinking, "i want my house keys." which, to me, at the time, of course, is ludicrous.

but in retrospect, what it says to me is there was some bit of me that was not intending to die. there's an immensely strong survival instinct that human beings have that kicks in. and i think that was that survival instinct that was saying to me, "you're going to live. live." rushdie was airlifted to hospital. with his life in the balance, his wife, eliza, never left his bedside. ijust remember the sounds of the machines and the ventilator breathing for him. that's... 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. shouting. 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 had come to think of that whole episode as being ancient history. as i say in the book, i felt like a time traveller — it 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 is 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, but is reported to have said he was surprised to hear that rushdie survived the attack. a lot of what i know about him — which is very little — doesn't make much sense. he took very little trouble to inform himself about the man he was planning to kill. he'd 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. disin — and therefore right to kill.

and that's all he knew. does this attack suggest that freedom of speech has got more and more difficult, rather than less so, since then... 0h! freedom of speech has got much more difficult, and notjust for this kind of reason. a lot of people — including a lot of young people, i'm sorry to say — have formed the opinion that it's now almost 0k to be prepared to suppress speech that you don't agree with. whereas, of course, the whole point of freedom of speech is that you have to permit speech you don't agree with. it came to me that, really, there were two forces in collision here. you know, one was a force of... ..violence, fanaticism, bigotry, you know, and the other was the force of love. and, of course, the force of love is embodied in the figure of my wife, eliza. this person was not powerful enough to take this love or this man from me. i love his eyes. and he left home with two of them,

and then our world changed. and now i love his...his single eye even more. because... because of how he sees the world. this book is a statement from a man who refuses to be beaten. an advocate of free speech, who won't be silenced. 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 and it's my way of fighting back. the aa has issued a new call for the introduction of graduated driving licences for young people.

these would restrict their use of cars after passing their test — in terms of what time they can drive, and who they can carry as passengers. it follows a campaign by families who've lost loved ones to crashes involving young drivers. the owners of what was known as "britain's wonkiest inn" have drawn up plans to rebuild it in a new location. the crooked house — near dudley in the west midlands — had to be demolished following a suspected arson attack last year. its owners are proposing rebuilding it in a busier area nearby. sunset boulevard was the big winner at sunday's 0livier awards in london, equalling the record for the most prizes for a musical at the ceremony. its seven wins included best musical revival and acting awards for its star nicole scherzinger. the event — which recognises the best of uk theatre — took place at london's albert hall. our culture correspondent charlotte gallagher was there. star power on full display at the 0livier awards. this year's nominations were full of household names like andrew scott, sarah snook and nicole scherzinger. the green carpet has been rolled out for the biggest night in british theatre, with some of the biggest

names in show business. all of them, they're wanting to get their hands on an 0livier. nicole scherzinger was one of the winners, after wowing critics and audiences in sunset boulevard. she took home best actress in a musical. it is a really complete phenomenon. i never expected it, you know — ifeel like i've... it's like norma says, i've come home at last. but i didn't know it would be with this show! her co—star, tom francis — who performed during the 0liviers — won best actor in a musical. another winner was the sherlock and league of gentlemen star mark gatiss — he won best actor for the motive and the cue — beating off competition from andrew scott, james norton, joseph fiennes and david tennant. i've known david tennant for...25 years. andrew, obviously, from sherlock for a very long time.

and it's just amazing to be in that company. joe fiennes and james norton, as well. just amazing. it was an amazingly strong year, so i'm really thrilled to bits. succession�*s sarah snook was another big name taking home one of those prestigious trophies for her one—woman production of the picture of dorian gray. i'm a little bit... are you in shock? very much in shock, yes. yeah, i... yeah. i think the... just, even the architecture of the building is shocking — to walk into the royal albert hall and be like, "what am i doing here? what's this, here in the west end with the cream of the cream of london theatre?" it's... yeah, it's a dream come true. it's quite astonishing to be able to be included in the group, so... # we are the finest minds in england. # on that we are agreed... 0peration mincemeat — a show inspired by a real—life world war ii mission — won best new musical. another big winner was dear england — the play about gareth southgate

and his england team. will close — who played harry kane — won an 0livier at his first—ever awards show. itjust reached such a large audience base. i mean, it was... i've just never seen anything like it, in terms of the demand for tickets, the enthusiasm of the crowds. it was... it ends with such a feel—good sweet caroline rendition that i think itjust left people leaving the theatre with a buzz and and a love of not only the story and the characters involved, but actually just the medium. it's a celebration of theatre, really, as much as it's a celebration of sport. and dame arlene phillips won her first 0livier at the age of 80. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. you'd think if you were rescued from a tight squeeze, you'd be grateful. well, don't forget to tell your face. firefighters rescued this cat when it got stuck between two walls in preston in lancashire. but it didn't look too

happy in the photograph. its grumpy expression attracted hundreds of comments on social media. tricky conditions on the roads, particularly added on the strength of the _ particularly added on 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 and 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 nine to 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 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, a0 or 50 mph gusts of wind still holding on for the likes of east anglia. so again, it will feel cold despite 12 to 1a 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.

live from jerusalem. this is bbc news. as israel weighs its response to iran's unprecedented attack , the un's secretary general calls for calm. the middle east is on the brink.

the people of the region are confronting the real dangers of a devastating, full—scale conflict. the uk's foreign secretary lord cameron urges israel not to retaliate — saying they should �*take the win�* of repelling iran's attack. iran suffered this defeat because the attack was a failure. the world can see what a malign influence they are and i think the right thing to do is not escalate. and live from london, i'm lauren taylor. donald trump will become the first us president to face a criminal trial on monday — facing 3a charges of fraud. and we focus in on sudan — as the country marks one year of a bloody civil war. welcome tojerusalem. and our