Rushdie remains in hospital with serious injuries, but is now “off the ventilator and talking and cracking jokes”, according to writer friend Aatish Taseer. Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, confirms the information. The latest update on Rushdie’s condition came on the night of Saturday Norwegian time. Shortly before it was known that the author had been stabbed around twelve times in the attack. One of the stabs to the face caused damage to one of his eyes, reports Sky News. They cite the state attorney general’s office in Chautauqua, New York. The author is said to have been stabbed in the neck, abdomen and liver, among other things. He suffered nerve damage in an arm. He was unable to speak and was on a ventilator, Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie stated later on Saturday night Norwegian time. – This is not good news. Salman is probably going to lose an eye. The nerves in his arm were severed and his liver was punctured and damaged, Wylie said. 24-year-old Hadi Matar was produced for remand on Saturday, charged with attempted murder. Photo: Gene J. Puskar / AP Custody On Saturday, 24-year-old Hadi Matar was formally charged with attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty when he was brought before remand. The judge refused Matar bail after public prosecutor Jason Schmidt had argued that the 24-year-old intentionally injured Rushdie. Schmidt pointed out that Matar had been given a pass to the event where Rushdie was to speak. Matar had arrived there a day in advance, equipped with a false identity card. – This was a targeted, unprovoked attack that was planned in advance, Schmidt said. Boxing center Matar lived in Fairview in the state of New Jersey. In nearby North Bergen, Matar became a member of a boxing center on 11 April this year. He attended about 27 group lessons for beginners. That’s what State of Fitness Boxing Club’s manager Rosaria Calabrese says. She says Matar emailed her a few days ago saying he wanted to end his membership because “he wasn’t going to be back for a while.” The centre’s owner Desmond Boyle says he did not notice “anything violent” about Matar. He describes Matar as polite and quiet, but at the same time as a person who appeared to be “terribly sad”. He says Matar resisted attempts by him and others to welcome him and get him involved. – He had this look on his face every time he came in. It looked like he was having the worst day of his life, says Boyle. The author was attacked during an event in New York on Friday afternoon, Norwegian time. Photo: Joshua Goodman / AP Lebanese background Matar was born in the United States to parents who emigrated from the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon. This is what the mayor of the village, Ali Tehfe, told the AP news agency. In the village, one can see flags belonging to the Iranian-backed militant Shiite group Hezbollah, and pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by The United States in 2020. Journalists who went to the village on Saturday were told to leave. Spokespersons for Hezbollah have not responded to AP’s requests to comment on the case. Death threats 75-year-old Rushdie was attacked on the podium just before he was to give a lecture at Chautauqua in northwestern New York state on Friday. The British-Indian author, who has written 14 novels, has been subjected to serious death threats since he published “Satanic Verses” in the autumn of 1988. In 1989, Iran’s then leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Rushdie should be killed. The same applied to those who had contributed to publishing the book, which was perceived as blasphemous by many Muslims. In 1991, Hitoshi Igarashi, who wrote the Japanese translation of The Satanic Verses, was killed in his office at the University of Tsukuba. A reward of 3 million dollars has been promised to the person or persons who take Rushdie’s life.
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Rushdie disconnected from ventilator – can speak again – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
