The writer had no idea his novel would unleash such anger and become a litmus test of freedom of expression
When Salman Rushdie wrote his novel The Satanic Verses in September 1988, he thought its many references to Islam might cause some ripples.
“I expected a few mullahs would be offended, call me names, and then I could defend myself in public,” Rushdie would tell an interviewer much later.
Continue reading...The critically acclaimed writer rose to fame in 1981 and later received death threats for The Satanic Verses
Sir Salman Rushdie has been attacked and stabbed in the neck while appearing at an event in New York.
Here is a timeline of his controversial, critically acclaimed career:
Continue reading...The strategies that worked in Kansas – countering misinformation, building a broad coalition – offers lessons for other ballot measures
In February, long before organizers in Kansas had made the hundreds of thousands of calls, knocked on the tens of thousands of doors; or did the thousands of media interviews needed to win a monumental race against an anti-abortion amendment, they started having parties.
Sometimes they were small parties: parties where tea and cookies were handed out, and people sat in living rooms getting to know one another. Other times, they sat around a dinner table, drinking wine with strangers.
Continue reading...Self-confessed murderer Justin Sneed gave the only evidence in Richard Glossip’s case, later writing ‘somethings I need to clean up’
A handwritten letter has come to light casting doubt on the critical testimony of a self-confessed murderer who provided the only implicating evidence at the trial of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate in Oklahoma who is to be executed in six weeks’ time.
The letter was written in 2007 by Justin Sneed, a motel handyman who by his own admittance bludgeoned to death Barry Van Treese, the owner of a Best Budget, a decade earlier. Sneed’s testimony that Glossip, the manager of the motel, had put him up to the murder with a promise of $10,000 was central to the state’s case – with no other forensic or corroborating evidence to back it up.
Continue reading...Millions of Americans could benefit from provisions in the bill that reduce prescription drug costs, experts say
Millions of older American could benefit from provisions in the new climate and healthcare spending package that lower prescription drug costs. For Black and Latino seniors, who disproportionately suffer from chronic diseases and struggle with high costs, the package, if passed and signed by Joe Biden, could be especially life-changing.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which the US House is expected to pass on Friday, would give Medicare the power to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies for up to 10 drugs starting in 2026. But other provisions could make the annual out-of-pocket costs for US seniors more affordable, which could disproportionately help low-income Americans and Black and Latino seniors on Medicare, who are up to twice as likely to struggle with paying for medication as white Americans.
Continue reading...The US actor will be taken off life support after it is determined if her organs are viable for donation, following a severe collision that left her car in flames
The family of Anne Heche say the US actor is “not expected to survive” a severe collision that left her vehicle engulfed in flames last Friday.
In a statement, Heche’s family said through a representative that she had suffered “a severe anoxic brain injury” and was now being kept on life support to determine whether her organs were viable for donation.
Continue reading...US attorney general cites ‘substantial public interest in this matter’ in announcing the request
The US justice department (DoJ) has asked a court to unseal the search warrant the FBI received before searching the Florida estate of Donald Trump, Merrick Garland said on Thursday.
The attorney general cited the “substantial public interest in this matter” in announcing the request at a hastily scheduled justice department news conference.
Continue reading...Suspected presence of such documents could explain why US attorney general took step of ordering FBI agents into a former president’s house
FBI agents were looking for secret documents about nuclear weapons among other classified material when they searched Donald Trump’s home on Monday, it has been reported.
The Washington Post cited people familiar with the investigation as saying nuclear weapons documents were thought to be in the trove the FBI was hunting in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. They did not specify what kind of documents or whether they referred to the US arsenal or another country’s.
Continue reading...Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh called for operations to uphold the ‘median line’ in the Taiwan Strait in response to China’s military exercises
The US and its allies should jointly respond to China’s live ammunition drills designed to intimidate Taiwan by holding “freedom of navigation” operations in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s official representative to the UK has said.
In an interview with the Guardian, Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh also called on the UK to uphold the principles of rules-based international order and forge closer trade and security investment relations with Taiwan. He welcomed the decision of the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to condemn the unprecedented Chinese military exercises in the wake of the visit of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to the island, the most senior US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
Continue reading...US secretary of state on last stop of African tour has been clear about US misgivings related to Paul Rusesabagina’s conviction
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has raised US concerns about the trial of the jailed dissident Paul Rusesabagina with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, and other senior Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali.
Blinken is in Kigali on the last stop of a tour of sub-Saharan Africa that aims to regain the diplomatic initiative across a continent that received little attention under the Trump administration.
Continue reading...Former president declines to answer questions two days after the FBI raided his Florida home seeking classified documents. Plus, how the culture wars came for drag queens
Good morning.
Donald Trump declined to answer questions under oath yesterday in New York state’s civil investigation into his business dealings, pleading the fifth two days after the FBI raided his Florida home in a separate criminal case, seeking classified documents taken from the White House.
Did Trump say anything about the case? According to the New York Times, Trump accused the attorney general of having “openly campaigned on a policy of destroying me”. Beyond that, from 9.30am to about 3pm, the former president had repeated the words “same answer” to every question about “valuations and golf clubs and all that stuff”, his lawyer said.
What do most Americans think about abortion rights? According to a survey conducted between 27 June and 4 July by the Pew Research center, a majority of the public disapproves of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe: 57% of adults disapprove of the court’s decision.
Continue reading...Workers allege over 75 people have been fired in retaliation for organizing this year
Workers at Starbucks have held over 55 different strikes in at least 17 states in the US in recent months over the company’s aggressive opposition to a wave of unionization.
According to an estimate by Starbucks Workers United, the strikes have cost Starbucks over $375,000 in lost revenue. The union created a $1m strike fund in June 2022 to support Starbucks workers through their strikes and several relief funds have been established for strikes and to support workers who have lost their jobs.
Continue reading...Yellowstone, Death Valley, Kentucky – experts say extreme rainfall spurred by global heating is rendering historical norms obsolete
An entire building and roads washed away by raging waters in Yellowstone. People desperately swimming from their homes in St Louis. Dozens dead after torrential downpours in Kentucky. The summer of 2022 has been one of extreme floods in the US, with scientists warning the climate crisis is worsening the devastation.
The deadliest of the recent barrage of floods, in Kentucky, was described as “heartbreaking” by Joe Biden as he surveyed ruined houses and inundated cars on Monday. At least 37 people died after five days of pounding record rain washed down mountainsides and drowned entire towns, an event that scientists say is a once in 1,000 year occurrence.
Continue reading...The planned gala reception is in stark contrast to the low-key audience afforded Joe Biden in June, as ties between China and the kingdom grow closer
The Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to visit Saudi Arabia next week, where plans are under way for a gala reception to match that given to Donald Trump on his first trip abroad as president.
The welcome being prepared for the Chinese leader is in stark contrast with that afforded to Joe Biden in June, when the US president received a low-key reception, reflecting strained ties between the two countries and personal distaste between Biden and the de facto Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman.
Continue reading...Between 2018 and 2020 China published 23.4% of the world’s scientific papers, eclipsing the US
China has overtaken the US as the world leader in both scientific research output and “high impact” studies, according to a report published by Japan’s science and technology ministry.
The report, which was published by Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTP) on Tuesday, found that China now publishes the highest number of scientific research papers yearly, followed by the US and Germany.
Continue reading...Document filed by ex-model’s lawyer states divorce should be dismissed without prejudice according to Daily Mail
Jerry Hall has reportedly asked judges to cancel the divorce petition she filed five weeks ago against Rupert Murdoch.
The notice was filed at the Los Angeles superior court by the former model’s California lawyer, Ronald Brot.
Continue reading...Disney sees total of 221m customers at the end of the June quarter compared to Netflix’s 220.7m
Walt Disney edged past Netflix with a total of 221 million streaming subscribers at the end of the most recent quarter and announced it will launch a Disney+ option with advertising this December.
In the just-ended quarter, Disney added 14.4 million Disney+ customers, beating the consensus of 10 million expected by analysts polled by FactSet, as it released Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Marvel’s Ms Marvel.
Continue reading...In lengthy statement, Trump says he refused to answer questions during deposition as part of inquiry into real estate dealings
The justice department has announced charges against a Tehran-based member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for attempting to hire someone in the United States to kill John Bolton, a national security adviser under Donald Trump.
According the department, 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi last year promised an unnamed person in the United States $300,000 to kill Bolton, probably as retaliation for Washington’s assassination of Qassem Suleimani in January 2020. The goal was apparently to have Bolton killed by the 3 January anniversary of Suleimani’s death in Baghdad, but the person Poursafi allegedly hired for the job was actually a confidential informant.
Continue reading...President urges regime, which denies involvement, to release Tice, who disappeared in 2012 covering Syrian war
Joe Biden has said that the US knows “with certainty” that the Syrian government is holding Austin Tice – an American journalist who has been missing for a decade – and called on Damascus to release him.
Ten years after the freelance reporter disappeared while reporting on the Syrian war, Biden said the US government knows “that [Tice] has been held by the Syrian regime”.
Continue reading...Ex-president pleads the fifth two days after the FBI raided his Florida home seeking classified documents
Donald Trump declined to answer questions under oath on Wednesday in New York state’s civil investigation into his business dealings, pleading the fifth two days after the FBI raided his Florida home in a criminal case, seeking classified documents taken from the White House.
The former US president’s decision to exercise his fifth-amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination was delivered during a closed-door deposition in Manhattan, where the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, is examining the Trump family real estate empire.
Continue reading...