Author Salman Rushdie stabbed onstage, hospitalised – Newstrends
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Author Salman Rushdie stabbed onstage, hospitalised

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2 years ago

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Salman Rushdie

British author Salman Rushdie, whose writings have made him the target of Iranian death threats, was attacked and stabbed in the neck at a literary event on Friday in western New York state.

Police said that a male suspect stormed the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer, with the writer suffering “an apparent stab wound to the neck.”

He was rushed by helicopter to a local hospital, police said, adding that his condition was not known.

New York governor Kathy Hochul said Rushdie was alive, and hailed him as “an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power.”

“We condemn all violence, and we want people to be able to feel (the) freedom to speak and to write truth,” she said.

A state trooper assigned to the event at the Chautauqua Institution, where Rushdie was due to give a talk, immediately took the suspect into custody.

Police gave no details about the suspect’s identity or any probable motive.

Social media footage showed people rushing to Rushdie’s aid and administrating emergency medical care. The interviewer also suffered a head injury in the attack.

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The Chautauqua Institution — which puts on arts and literary programming in a tranquil lakeside community seventy miles (110 kilometers) south of Buffalo — said in a statement that it was coordinating with law enforcement and emergency officials.

– A decade in hiding –

Rushdie, 75, was propelled into the spotlight with his second novel “Midnight’s Children” in 1981, which won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India.

But his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses” brought attention beyond his imagination when it sparked a fatwa, or religious decree, calling for his death by Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The novel was considered by some Muslims as disrespectful of the Prophet Mohammed.

Rushdie, who was born in India to non-practicing Muslims and today identifies as an atheist, was forced to go underground as a bounty was put on his head — which remains today.

He was granted police protection by the government in Britain, where he was at school and where he made his home, following the murder or attempted murder of his translators and publishers.

He spent nearly a decade in hiding, moving houses repeatedly and being unable to tell his children where he lived.

Rushdie only began to emerge from his life on the run in the late 1990s after Iran in 1998 said it would not support his assassination.

Now living in New York, he is an advocate of freedom of speech, notably launching a strong defence of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after its staff were gunned down by Islamists in Paris in 2015.

The magazine had published drawings of Mohammed that drew furious reactions from Muslims worldwide.

– An ‘essential voice’ –

Threats and boycotts continue against literary events that Rushdie attends, and his knighthood in 2007 sparked protests in Iran and Pakistan, where a government minister said the honor justified suicide bombings.

The fatwa failed to stifle Rushdie’s writing and inspired his memoirs “Joseph Anton,” named after his alias while in hiding and written in the third person.

“Midnight’s Children” — which runs to more than 600 pages — has been adapted for the stage and silver screen, and his books have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Suzanne Nossel, head of the PEN America organization, said the free speech advocacy group was “reeling from shock and horror.”

“Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face,” Nossel said in a statement.

“Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery. We hope and believe fervently that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced.”

AFP

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Court stops Soun of Ogbomoso from removing Chief Imam

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1 hour ago

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June 29, 2024

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Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Shiek Taliat Yunus Olusina Ayilara and Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye

Court stops Soun of Ogbomoso from removing Chief Imam

An Oyo State High Court in Ogbomoso has restrained the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye, and the kingmakers of town from removing the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheikh Teliat Yunus Ayilara.

The monarch and the kingmakers, led by Chief Sobalaje Otolorin, were stopped from removing the cleric following a suit filed at the court.

The suit, marked HOG/31/2024, was filed by Registered Trustees of Ogbomoso Muslim Youths Forum against the Soun and the Soun-In-Council.

The Muslim youths alleged that the traditional ruler and the kingmakers, who are members of the Soun-in-Council were making some clandestine moves to remove the cleric.

The suit stated further restrained, “defendants/respondents whether by themselves, their agents, privies, officers under their control, or any persons acting on the instruction of the defendants/respondents from suspending or removing the holder of office of Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land (in person of Alhaji Yunus Olusina Ayilara) or in anyway disturbing or tampering with the office of Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice”.

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It added that “defendants/respondents and their agents, servants and/or privies and/or any persons acting under their control or on their instructions, are also restrained in the interim from doing anything under any guise whatsoever to interfere with or impede the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso Land from carrying out the functions and duties of his office as Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso Land pending the hearing and determination of the Motion On Notice filed herein.”

“I put on record that I have taken judicial notice of the full names of the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land as Alhaji Taliat Yunus Olusina Ayilara and that of the 1 defendant/respondent as His Imperial Majesty Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye (Orumogege III), the Soun of Ogbomoso land.”

Court stops Soun of Ogbomoso from removing Chief Imam

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19-year-old transformer vandal electrocuted in Enugu

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5 hours ago

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June 29, 2024

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19-year-old transformer vandal electrocuted in Enugu

A yet-to-be-identified suspected electricity vandal has been electrocuted while attempting to steal transformer cable which belong to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company.

A statement on Friday by the Head, Corporate Communications of EEDC, Emeka Ezeh, said the incident happened in the early hours of Friday.

Ezeh, who described the incident as “tragic and very unfortunate,” lamented the increasing rate at which vandals attack electricity installations within the EEDC’s network daily.

Ezeh said, “In the early hours of today (Friday), the lifeless body of a yet-to-be-identified vandal suspect was found within the space of a distribution transformer belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc located around Missionary Avenue, Coal Camp, Enugu.

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“From all indications, it is presumed that the power supply must have been restored while the deceased was cutting the armoured cables, which resulted in him being electrocuted.

“Vandalism has been a big challenge to the company, and there is no way this can be addressed without the support of critical stakeholders.”

Ezeh lamented the increasing rate at which criminals plunder electricity installations within EEDC’s network daily, noting that it has adversely impacted not just the quality of service to its customers but also its revenue.

Meanwhile, the organisation in a statement on Friday, said, “The attention of the EEDC has been drawn to a video circulating on the social media space, made by one Mazi Okechukwu Cyril Nwuche who claims to be a lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, and the Anambra State Chairman of South East Electricity Consumers Association, purporting that EEDC is calling on its customers to apply for a free prepaid metre.

“This information is not only incorrect but laced with mischief aimed at misleading unsuspecting customers and creating confusion within the space.

“Whilst EEDC encourages its customers in need of meters to apply and have their premises metered, it is important that they are armed with the right information, and that they also understand the procedure in place for metre acquisition.”

19-year-old transformer vandal electrocuted in Enugu

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Court remands man for defiling eight-year-old daughter in Ondo

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5 hours ago

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June 29, 2024

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Court remands man for defiling eight-year-old daughter in Ondo

A Family Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has ordered the remand of a man, Mufutau Taiwo, for allegedly defiling his eight-year-old daughter.

The 35-year-old defendant was arrested by policemen for committing the offence at Ayedun Quarters, Akure, a few weeks ago. He was later charged in court on one count charge of rape.

According to the police prosecutor, Mr Martins Olowofeso, the defendant was apprehended on June 18, 2024, following a report made to the Anti-kidnapping Unit of the command at Alagbaka (Akure) that the defendant was involved in an incestuous act with his daughter.

The charge sheet reads, “That you, Mufutau Taiwo, 35, male, on June 5, 2024, at about 4 pm at No. 40 Egbe-Road, Ayedun Quarters, Akure, did have carnal knowledge of your daughter, (name withheld), female, aged eight years old, of the same address, and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 25(a) of the Ondo State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2021.”

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Olowofeso informed the court that the Investigating Police Officer conducted a test in Akure, which revealed that there was penetration into the victim’s private part and she had been bleeding for three days.

He added that the defendant had confessed to the alleged crime during interrogation by the IPO.

The prosecutor, through an application, urged the court to remand the defendant at the Olokuta Correctional Centre pending the issuance of advice from the Department of Public Prosecutions.

The counsel to the defendant, G.O. Omoedu, told the court that his client had just served and he would need time to respond on points of law, urging the court to adjourn the case to enable him to reply to the remand application.

In her ruling, the magistrate B. A. Alipohul ordered that the defendant should be remanded in police custody and adjourned the case till July 4, 2024, for a hearing.

Court remands man for defiling eight-year-old daughter in Ondo

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