China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, carried out its largest-ever military exercises around the self-governed island after a visit earlier this month by Pelosi, who was followed this week by five more U.S. lawmakers. Huge explosion hits Kabul mosque, many casualties feared A huge explosion struck a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday, witnesses and police said, with many feared dead or injured.
Salman Rushdie: On August 12, Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses , was brutally attacked at a ceremony in Chautauqua, New York. He has received death threats several times because of this book and he is also on the hit list of Al Qaeda.
The New Jersey man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie told the New York Post in an interview published Wednesday that he was "surprised" the author had survived the attack.
Hadi Matar did not respond on whether he was inspired by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who had issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie s death in 1989 after “The Satanic Verses” was published.