Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
Salman Rushdie, novelist who drew death threats, on ventilator after New York stabbing
Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him because of his writing, was stabbed in the neck and torso onstage at a lecture in New York state on Friday and airlifted to a hospital, police said. After hours of surgery, Rushdie was on a ventilator and unable to speak on Friday evening after an attack condemned by writers and politicians around the world as an assault on the freedom of expression.
India dismisses four employees in Kashmir for anti-national activities
Indian administered Kashmir on Saturday sacked four government employees, citing their involvement in activities “prejudicial to the interests of the security of the state”. One of those dismissed is the son of the leader of a militant group fighting against India in the disputed Himalayan territory.
Veteran opposition leader Odinga ahead in Kenya’s presidential race- official results
Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga led Kenya’s presidential race, official election results showed on Saturday, pushing Deputy President William Ruto into second place. With just over 26% of votes counted, Odinga had 54% and Ruto had 45%, according to results provided by the Kenyan election commission and displayed on a large screen at a national tallying center in the capital, Nairobi.
Rushdie told German magazine his life is now ‘relatively normal’
In an interview conducted just weeks before he was stabbed and seriously wounded by an attacker in New York state, author Salman Rushdie said his life was now “relatively normal”, after having lived in hiding for years because of death threats.
Rushdie talked in the interview with Germany’s Stern magazine about the threats he sees to U.S. democracy. He also called himself an optimist, and noted that the fatwa, a religious edict issued in Iran in 1989 that called on Muslims around the world to kill him for blasphemy, was pronounced long ago.
Split families still suffer after 75 years of India-Pakistan partition
Ali Hasan Baqai and Syed Abid Baqai, brothers split for 75 years by the partition of India and Pakistan, talk with their families on a video call, words and tears binding them but with no hope of reunion. Thousands of families like the Baqai brothers’ remain divided three-quarters of a century after their countries were formed in the rupture of independence from British-ruled India in 1947.
Shanghai extends weekly COVID-19 testing requirement until end of September
China’s most populous city Shanghai has extended its weekly COVID-19 test requirement and extended free testing until the end of September in a bid to keep the virus in check, authorities announced on Saturday. Citizens without a record of a nucleic acid test from within seven days will be assigned a yellow code on Shanghai’s health code system, the official notice said. A yellow code restricts access to some public venues.
Iran’s hardline newspapers praise Salman Rushdie’s attacker
Several hardline Iranian newspapers poured praise on Saturday on the person who attacked and seriously wounded author Salman Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” had drawn death threats from Iran since 1989. There was no official reaction yet in Iran to the attack on Rushdie, who was stabbed in the neck and torso on Friday while onstage at a lecture in New York state.
Ukraine, Russia blame each other for nuclear plant shelling
Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking catastrophe by shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war. Western countries have called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhzhia plant, but there has been no sign so far of Russia agreeing to do that. The plant was captured by Russian forces in early March but is still run by Ukrainian technicians.
Drought in England, fires rage in France as heatwave persists
Firefighters from across Europe came to France’s rescue on Friday to battle a massive wildfire, while fire also raged in Portugal and parts of England faced a severe drought, as successive heatwaves renewed the focus on climate change risks. Much of Europe has faced weeks of baking temperatures that have also depleted water levels of the Rhine River in Germany and seen the source of Britain’s River Thames dry up further downstream than in previous years.
Festival stage collapse in Spain kills one, injures dozens
One person was killed and dozens were injured when high winds caused part of the main stage to collapse at a dance music festival near the Spanish city of Valencia in the early hours of Saturday, regional emergency services said. Other infrastructure was also damaged when gusts battered the Medusa Festival, a huge electronic music festival held over six days in the east coast town of Cullera, south of Valencia.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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