Tropical storm Meari strikes Japan, thousands affected | 10 points

A tropical storm – ‘Meari’ – unleashed itself onto Japan, bringing heavy rains on the main Honshu island Saturday, as it headed further northward towards capital city Tokyo, Japanese weather officials announced. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Tropical Storm Meari made a landfall in Shizuoka Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, on Saturday afternoon, causing sudden downpour with blasting winds, prompting warnings about mudslides and flooding. Here’s what we know so far: 1.

Praise, worry in Iran after Salman Rushdie attack; government maintains silence

Iranians reacted with praise and worry Saturday over the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death. It remains unclear why Rushdie’s attacker, identified by police as Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, stabbed the author as he prepared to speak at an event Friday in western New York.

Fatwa, fatal attacks, book ban: How Salman Rushdie’s novel triggered outrage

The attack on Booker-winning novelist Salman Rushdie has sent shockwaves to the world, especially those who champion freedom of speech and expression. A bounty of over USD 3 million has been offered till date for anyone who kills Rushdie. In 1998, a hardline Iranian student group announced one billion rial (then $333,000) bounty for Rushdie’s head. Rushdie into hiding Rushdie went into hiding with round-the-clock police protection after he started receiving death threats.

Europe-Russia gas standoff threatens future of world’s oldest glassware company

Maximilian Riedel’s family has kept the furnaces running at their glass-making business for 11 generations. He’s worried that Europe’s gas standoff with Russia might break that legacy. Companies across Europe are preparing for the worst as governments make contingency plans for gas shortages this winter if Russian President Vladimir Putin continues cutting supplies. An emergency gas plan drawn up by the German government includes state control over distribution under a worst-case scenario.

Salman Rushdie was seated; attacker climbed the stage: How it unfolded

Author Salman Rushdie was brutally stabbed by a 24-year-old Muslim man Hadi Matar at the stage of an event in New York City where the writer was about to deliver his speech on the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. Salman Rushdie’s agent said he suffered a grave injury in his abdomen damaging his liver. The writer may lose an eye, his agent said. He was lying in a pool of blood.