Terrorism trial set for Salman Rushdie stabbing
NEW YORK, July 22: The man convicted of trying to kill Salman Rushdie is going on trial again, this time in a federal terrorism case that is probing deeper into what allegedly motivated the stabbing on a lecture stage in 2022. Opening statements are set for Wednesday in Hadi Matar’s trial in the federal courthouse in Buffalo, New York. The Booker Prize-winning Rushdie, now 79, is expected to be among the first witnesses, again describing the stabbing that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye. He has recounted the moment and his recovery in testimony at Matar’s state-court attempted murder trial, in a memoir and in multiple interviews. Rushdie was born in India, raised in Britain, where he was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II, and now is a US citizen. Matar, 28, already is serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence on a state-level attempted murder and assault conviction. Matar has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. If convicted, he faces a potential life sentence. (AP)
Three hantavirus deaths reported in Venezuela
Caracas, July 22: Venezuela confirmed on Tuesday that three people died of infections of hantavirus, but stressed there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission in the South American country, which has rarely reported cases of the rodent-borne disease in humans. The Health Ministry said hantavirus was also suspected in the deaths of two health workers in the southwestern state of Barinas. Those cases remain under investigation and were not linked to the three fatalities in the eastern state of Anzoategui, about 655 kilometres (407 miles) away. Both states were spared the worst of the back-to-back major earthquakes that hit northern Venezuela earlier this month.The ministry described the deaths in Anzoategui and Barinas as isolated incidents that “do not represent a risk to the general community.” But it added that health workers would be sent to the affected states to “guarantee the health security of all Venezuelans,” without elaborating. (AP)
Congo’s Ebola outbreak kills nearly 1,000
Congo, July 22: At least 999 people have died from the Ebola outbreak in Congo, according to official data published overnight into Wednesday, a grim toll in what’s already been declared the fastest Ebola outbreak in history. The latest update from Congo’s Ministry of Health shows that as of Monday, 2,473 cases have been recorded in the latest outbreak, and 999 people have died. At least 737 patients are currently in isolation and hospitals, it said. The outbreak declared on May 15 is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments. It has also killed more people at a quicker rate than any outbreak on record, including the 2013-2016 outbreak that is considered the worst on record with over 11,000 deaths out of at least 28,000 cases. That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths. (AP)
