Newshour BBC World Service

Deputy President William Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya's presidential election amid dramatic scenes. He narrowly beat his rival, Raila Odinga, taking 50.5% of the vote, according to the official results. But a majority of the Electoral Comission say correct procedure was not followed in the tallying of results.

Also in the programme: our Chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet co-present from this special edition of Newshour from Kabul a year on the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. We talk about the drought and food crisis the country is facing; Afghan women’s education and role in society ; and we interview a Taliban leader.

(Photo: A supporter reacts to William Ruto’s victory in the presidential poll. Credit: Reuters).

It has been one year since the Taliban took control in Afghanistan. The anniversary comes during a deepening economic and humanitarian crisis, with many men unable to find work to feed their families; and concerns about women and girls being excluded from work or formal education. Also on the show, we look at Kenya’s presidential election, where William Ruto has been named as the country's next president, amid some controversy. (Photo: Jack Garland)

Author Salman Rushdie is still in a critical condition but “his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact”, his son says. Zafar Rushdie said his father had sustained life-changing injuries, but was able to speak to his family. We hear from Raphael Geiger – U.S. Correspondent at German magazine Stern – who had the most recent interview with Rushdie.

Also in the programme, dozens have died – at least forty-one according to the Egyptian authorities – in a fire at a church on the outskirts of Cairo; and a new study reveals climate change is increasing the risk of a California ‘megaflood’.

(Image: A general view shows UPMC Hamot Surgery Center, where novelist Salman Rushdie is receiving treatment after the attack, in Erie, Pennsylvania. Credit: REUTERS/Quinn Glabicki)

The novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and is now able to speak, two days after being repeatedly stabbed. We hear from a friend who defended him in court, and hid him in his home.

Also in the programme: Egypt's health ministry says forty-one people have been killed in a fire in a Coptic church in Giza; and we report from southwest France, where firefighting services are being pushed as never before by the summer wildfires.

(Image: Salman Rushdie at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in England / Credit: David Levenson/Getty Images)

The man suspected of stabbing novelist Salman Rushdie at an event in New York on Friday has been charged with attempted murder. Hadi Matar, 24, has appeared in court and has been remanded without bail. The award-winning writer remains in a critical condition. We hear from A. L. Kennedy about Rushdie’s influence on her work as a writer, and expert on U.S.-Iranian relations Trita Parsi.

Also in the programme, a U.S.-based rights group says that a terrorism court in Saudi Arabia has jailed a women’s rights activist for thirty-four years over comments she posted on Twitter calling for reform; and – almost a year after the militant group seized power – Taliban fighters disperse dozens of female protesters in Kabul demanding rights to work and political participation.

There has been international condemnation of the stabbing attack on the writer Salman Rushdie in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is now on a ventilator with serious wounds. Mr Rushdie has lived under the threat of assassination since the fatwa imposed on him by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. We speak to two of Salman Rushdie's friends and supporters, and get reaction from Tehran.

Also in the programme: our Chief Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet remembers Afghanistan a year ago, as the Taliban took power; and why former US president Donald Trump's claim to have declassified the secret documents found at Mar A Lago is no defence to the charges he could face.

(Image: UPMC Hamot Surgery Center, where novelist Salman Rushdie is receiving treatment after the attack, in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 12, 2022 / Credit: REUTERS/Quinn Glabicki)