More than a dozen acclaimed writers address a crowd at New York Public Library to express solidarity with the controversial author, a week after the stabbing attack on him.
The turnout "shows people are not afraid," says writer and historian Amanda Foreman.
(AFP)
Prominent literary figures have gathered in Manhattan for a reading of Salman Rushdie's works, in solidarity with the controversial author seriously wounded in a stabbing attack in New York.
More than a dozen acclaimed writers, including friends and colleagues of Rushdie, spoke on Friday at the steps of the New York Public Library for the event, which organisers said the novelist had been invited to watch from the hospital.
In Rushdie's honour, the American literary journalist Gay Talese, sporting his signature fedora hat and three-piece suit, read an excerpt from "The Golden House" novel, while Irish writer Colum McCann read from the 1992 New Yorker essay "Out of Kansas."
AM Homes –– the American author whose own works including "The End of Alice" novel have triggered controversy over the years –– read from Rushdie's piece "On Censorship," which was drawn from a lecture he gave in 2012.
"No writer ever really wants to talk about censorship," she read. "Writers want to talk about creation, and censorship is anti-creation, negative energy, uncreation, the bringing into being of non-being."
Hari Kunzru, the British novelist and journalist, read the opening of that book.
"Salman once wrote that the role of the writer is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it from going to sleep," Kunzru said. "That's why we're here."
'People are not afraid'
Writer and historian Amanda Foreman said the turnout "shows people are not afraid."
"No matter what, we and they, we are all willing to stand up for what we are believing," she told the AFP news agency.
Among the attendees was Raymond Lotta, an author and spokesperson for the Harlem shop Revolution Books, who told AFP the stabbing of Rushdie was "an attack on critical thinking, on dissent, on creativity."
Rushdie, who was born in India in 1947 to a family originating in Kashmir, moved to New York two decades ago and became a US citizen in 2016.
He spent years under police protection after Iran's late Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie's killing a year after the publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses" in 1988, which negatively portrayed Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini's decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. Iran denied any link with Rushdie's attacker but blamed the writer himself for "insulting" Islam in his book.
Suspect pleads not guilty
In an interview given to Germany's Stern magazine days before last Friday's attack, Rushdie described how his life had resumed a degree of normality following his relocation from Britain.
One week ago Rushdie was about to be interviewed as part of a lecture series in upstate New York when a man stormed the stage and stabbed the 75-year-old writer repeatedly in the neck and abdomen.
Rushdie's suspected assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey, was wrestled to the ground by staff and audience members before being taken into police custody.
Matar answered to a grand jury indictment on Thursday, pleading not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges.
HUALIEN, Taiwan -- The U.S. government will hold talks with Taiwan on a wide-ranging trade treaty in a sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy China claims as its own territory.
The announcement Thursday comes after Beijing held military drills that included firing missiles into the sea to intimidate Taiwan following this month’s visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's military held a drill Thursday with missiles and cannon simulating a response to a Chinese missile attack.
President Joe Biden’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell, said last week trade talks would “deepen our ties with Taiwan” but stressed policy wasn’t changing. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, its ninth-largest trading partner, but maintains extensive informal ties.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s announcement made no mention of tension with Beijing but said “formal negotiations” would develop trade and regulatory ties, a step that would entail closer official interaction.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are bound by billions of dollars of trade and investment. The island never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the ruling Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Being allowed to export more to the United States might help Taiwan blunt China’s efforts to use its status as the island’s biggest trading partner as political leverage. The mainland blocked imports of Taiwanese citrus and other food in retaliation for Pelosi’s Aug. 2 visit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government had no immediate reaction to the announcement.
U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades amid disputes over trade, security, technology and Beijing’s treatment of Muslim minorities and Hong Kong.
The USTR said negotiations would be conducted under the auspices of Washington’s unofficial embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan.
Xi’s government says official contact with Taiwan such as Pelosi’s one-day visit might embolden the island to try to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step Beijing says would lead to war.
Washington says it takes no position on the status of China and Taiwan but wants their dispute settled peacefully. The U.S. government is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself.
“We will continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the face of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to undermine it, and to support Taiwan,” Campbell said during a conference call last Friday.
China takes more than twice as much of Taiwan’s exports as the United States, its No. 2 foreign market. Taiwan’s government says its companies have invested almost $200 billion in the mainland. Beijing says a 2020 census found some 158,000 Taiwanese entrepreneurs, professionals and others live on the mainland.
China’s ban on imports of citrus, fish and hundreds of other Taiwanese food products hurt rural areas seen as supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen, but those goods account for less than 0.5% of Taiwan’s exports to the mainland.
Beijing did nothing that might affect the flow of processor chips from Taiwan that are needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones and consumer electronics. The island is the world’s biggest chip supplier.
A second group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, arrived on Taiwan on Sunday and met with Tsai. Beijing announced a second round of military drills after their arrival.
Taiwan, with 23.6 million people, has launched its own military drills in response.
On Thursday, drills at Hualien Air Base on the east coast simulated a response to a Chinese missile attack. Military personnel practiced with Taiwanese-made Sky Bow 3 anti-aircraft missiles and 35mm anti-aircraft cannon but didn’t fire them.
“We didn’t panic” when China launched military drills, said air force Maj. Chen Teh-huan.
“Our usual training is to be on call 24 hours a day to prepare for missile launches,” Chen said. “We were ready.”
The U.S.-Taiwanese talks also will cover agriculture, labor, the environment, digital technology, the status of state-owned enterprises and “non-market policies,” the USTR said.
Washington and Beijing are locked in a 3-year-old tariff war over many of the same issues.
They include China’s support for government companies that dominate many of its industries and complaints Beijing steals foreign technology and limits access to an array of fields in violation of its market-opening commitments.
Then-President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods in 2019 in response to complaints its technology development tactics violate its free-trade commitments and threaten U.S. industrial leadership. Biden has left most of those tariff hikes in place.
Dr. Mohan, also a science enthusiast, blogger, trekker, nature lover and wildlife conservationist, passed away on January 11 this year
Dr. Mohan, also a science enthusiast, blogger, trekker, nature lover and wildlife conservationist, passed away on January 11 this year
The Mangaluru Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and Art Kanara Trust have organised “Under 30 Photo Story Contest” in the name of Late Krishna Mohan, a surgeon and an eminent photographer from Moodbidri.
Any photographer, photojournalist or writer aged between 16 and 30 from across the world may participate in the contest, revolving around the theme, “Metaphors of Physical and Emotional Spaces”, focusing on people, places, nature and wildlife, history, sports, food and culture of Coastal Karnataka, including Kasaragod in Kerala and the Malnad region.
Original photo essays have to be submitted before September 20, said a release. Shortlisted contestants will be invited for online interaction with the jury. They will be required to submit high-resolution images. Prizes will be announced in December this year.
Winners will be given awards in the name of Dr. Mohan (popularly known as Krishi), who mentored hundreds of students and photographers. Dr. Mohan, also a science enthusiast, blogger, trekker, nature lover and wildlife conservationist, passed away on January 11 this year.
The top four winners will get certificates with cash prizes of ₹20,000, ₹15,000, ₹10,000 and ₹5,000, respectively. Merit certificates will be given to shortlisted authors and co-authors. An exhibition of the prize-winning photo series will be held in the city.
Entries may be submitted individually or in collaboration between two authors, one as a photographer and the other as a writer. The stories can be in English, Kannada or Tulu, between 600 and 1,500 words, using not less than 10 and not more than 15 photographs. Photographs can be shot on a DSLR or a smartphone.
For details, contact Nemiraj Shetty on Ph: 9986366355 or Rajendra Kedige on Ph: 9480014812 or email artkanaratrust@gmail.com.
President Zelenskyy visits one of Ukraine’s main Black Sea ports to oversee grain being loaded for export as deadly strikes on a prison spark a blame game on the 156th day of fighting.
Russia's foreign ministry, in a statement on the call, said that relations between the two nations "are in strong need of normalisation."
(Reuters)
Friday, July 29, 2022
US, Russia top diplomats hold first talks since Ukraine conflict
The top diplomats of the United States and Russia spoke for the first time since the Ukraine conflict, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken describing a "frank" exchange as he pushed to free two Americans.
Blinken initiated the call with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whom he had shunned as early as a few weeks ago, as he pressed Russia to accept an offer to free prisoners.
Lavrov told Blinken that Washington was not living up to promises regarding the exemption from sanctions for the supply of food from Russia, Moscow said.
A Russian foreign ministry read-out of the call also cited Lavrov as telling Blinken that Russia would achieve all the goals of its "special military operation" in Ukraine and said western arms supplies would only drag out the conflict.
US sanctions two Russians for malign influence operations
The US Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on two individuals and four entities that support the Kremlin's global malign influence and election interference operations.
"The individuals and entities designated today played various roles in Russia’s attempts to manipulate and destabilise the United States and its allies and partners, including Ukraine," the Treasury said in a statement, naming the individuals as Russian citizens Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov and Natalya Valeryevna Burlinova.
Ukraine opens investigation into attack that killed Ukrainian prisoners of war
The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office opened a pre-trial investigation into an attack that killed about 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
It said "the occupying state struck the territory of correctional colony No. 120" in an attack in which 130 people were also injured.
Each side accused the other of carrying out the attack in territory held by Russian-backed separatists.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready to ship grain, awaits signal to start
Ukraine's president visited a Black Sea port to show his country is ready to start exporting grain under a Türkiye-brokered deal aimed at easing global food shortages, and said Kiev was awaiting the signal for the first shipment.
"We are ready to export Ukrainian grain. We are waiting for signals from our partners about the start of transportation," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app after visiting the port of Chornomorsk near the southern city of Odessa.
Russia's FM Lavrov discusses with his American counterpart Blinken, says:
- Russia to meet targets of special military operation in Ukraine - Global food situation complicated by US sanctions - Suggestion to Blinken two sides return to quiet diplomacy pic.twitter.com/YKD1H5ufJJ
Zelenskyy visits Ukraine port to oversee first grain export
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited a port in southern Ukraine to oversee grain being loaded for export onto a ship, the presidency has said, following a Türkiye-brokered deal with Russia.
"The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war. This is a Turkish vessel," Zelenskyy said, according to a statement from the presidency. Video footage from the Chornomorsk port released by the presidency showed him in front of a ship called Polarnet.
The statement said exports could start in "the coming days" under the plan aimed at getting millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain stranded by Russia's naval blockade to world markets.
Macron, bin Salman to work to ‘ease effects’ of Ukraine conflict
French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have agreed to work "to ease the effects" of the conflict in Ukraine during talks in Paris.
The French presidency said in a statement that the leaders highlighted "the need to bring an end to this conflict and intensify their cooperation to ease the effects in Europe, the Middle East and the wider world".
The statement made no explicit reference to oil or gas, but said Macron had "underlined the importance of continuing the ongoing coordination with Saudi Arabia with regards to the diversification of energy supplies for European countries."
Lavrov: Moscow will propose time for Blinken call on prisoners
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and US jails.
Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had made a "substantial offer" to obtain the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia.
A source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, jailed in the United States, as part of such a deal.
Kremlin: Russia is in solidarity with Beijing over Taiwan
Russia is in solidarity with Chinese President Xi Jinping over China's sovereignty on the issue of Taiwan, the Kremlin has said.
"No country should call it into question," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
Russia supports Beijing's "One China" policy on the issue of Taiwan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier, after Xi warned US President Joe Biden not to "play with fire" over the island.
Germany to send Ukraine 16 bridge-layer tanks
Germany's defence minister has decided to deliver 16 BIBER bridge-layer tanks to Ukrainian forces, the ministry said.
"The BIBER will enable Ukrainian troops to cross waters or obstacles in combat," the ministry said in a statement. "The delivery of the first six systems will take place this year, starting in autumn. Ten more systems will follow next year."
Ukrainian court lowers Russian soldier's sentence
An appeals court in Kiev has reduced to 15 years the life sentence of a Russian soldier convicted in the first "war crimes" trial since Russia began its military intervention in Ukraine.
Critics said the sentencing of Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old contract soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a civilian and was convicted in May, was unduly harsh, given that he confessed to the crime, said he was following orders and expressed remorse.
His defence lawyer, Viktor Ovsyannikov, had appealed to the court to reduce the sentence to 10 years. He said it was highly likely Shishimarin would be returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange.
North Macedonia donates tanks to Ukraine
North Macedonia has plans to donate an unspecified number of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine as it seeks to modernise its own military to meet NATO standards, its defence ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said Ukraine will receive tanks belonging to the western Balkan country's tank battalion which is in the process of being upgraded.
Russia steps up its military campaign by carrying out deadly strikes across Ukraine. Our correspondent Aksel Zaimovic has the latest from Kiev pic.twitter.com/5moQ4wzZRg
At least 40 Ukrainian prisoners captured during the fighting for Mariupol have been killed by Ukrainian shelling, Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have said. Kiev has in turned blamed Russia for the deadly attack.
Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesperson for the separatists in the Donetsk region, said that at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners were killed and 130 were injured on Friday when Ukrainian shelling hit a prison in the town of Olenivka. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian authorities to the report.
The Russian army accused Kiev's forces of striking the jail with US-made HIMARS rocket systems. "Forty Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 75 wounded," the defence ministry said in a statement, adding that eight employees of the detention centre were also injured.
UK: Russia is failing in many areas of Ukraine conflict
Britain's defence minister Ben Wallace has said that Russia is failing in "many areas" in its conflict in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin might seek to change strategy again.
"The Russians are failing at the moment on the ground in many areas...Putin's plan A, B, and C has failed and he may look to plan D," Wallace told Sky News television.
Russian strikes kill several at bus stop in south Ukraine
Russian strikes on the heavily bombed Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv near the country's southern frontline killed four people and wounded seven more on Friday, the regional governor said.
"Today, they shot at another area near a public transport stop. According to the latest information, four people are dead and seven are injured," Vitaliy Kim said in a statement on social media.
UPDATE: Ukraine hits prison in Russia-controlled Donetsk region with Himars missiles, killing at least 40 of its own soldiers captured during clashes with Russian forces and wounding 75 others - Russian Foreign Ministry
Russia's Lavrov says Moscow will propose time for call with Blinken
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow will soon propose a date for a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken said on Wednesday he planned to hold a conversation with Lavrov to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and US jails.
Ukraine steps up its offensive in south, Russia bombs Kiev
Ukraine increased its counter-attacks against Russian forces in the south while Moscow bombed Kiev's outskirts for the first time in weeks as Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two dragged on with no end in sight.
Air raid sirens blared as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed parliament alongside visiting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, as Ukraine marked its Day of Ukrainian Statehood with a public holiday for the first time on Thursday.
The attack shattered the sense of normalcy that has returned to life in Kiev since Russian forces abandoned attempts to capture the city in the first weeks of the conflict, in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance.
"This was Russia offering greetings on Ukraine’s Day of State Sovereignty"
Governor Vyacheslav Chausov
For live updates from Thursday (July 28), click here
Haryana Congress will be hold a day-long ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Panchkula on August 1 to discuss the strategy to reach out to people over “burning issues” including inflation, unemployment and “misuse” of probe agencies by the Centre.
In the brainstorming session, the party will also chalk out details regarding a padyatra (foot march) in every district of the state from August 9 to 15 as part of the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, said a senior Haryana Congress leader on Thursday.
Leader of Opposition, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee working presidents, party MPs, MLAs from Haryana, former MPs and ex-legislators from the state, AICC office bearers AICC Secretary, CWC members from state, party candidates who contested previous Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls are among those who have been invited to attend the event.
Asked whether Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana affairs, Vivek Bansal, was also among those who have been invited or informed about the event, State Congress chief Udai Bhan said, “We have communicated to all concerned and everyone should come”.
He, however, downplayed reports which suggested that Bansal had not been invited or informed about the event. Notably, Bansal had recently come under attack from senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, who had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging BJP-JJP backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma’s win in last month’s Rajya Sabha polls.
Maken had taken a dig at Bansal while speaking to reporters here recently and said the Congress’ authorised polling agent for the Rajya Sabha polls, who was shown every single vote, had maintained until last that “we got 30 single preference votes, whereas only 29 single preference votes were cast”. Congress has 31 MLAs in the 90-member state assembly and the numbers were enough to secure Maken’s win. However, party legislator Kuldeep Bishnoi cross-voted while another vote was declared invalid.
About the Chintan Shivir, Bhan said, strategy for going to the public and making them aware about various “burning issues” including inflation, unemployment and “misuse” of probe agencies by the Centre will be discussed. He alleged that senior Congress leaders and leaders of other opposition parties were being involved in “false cases” and “harassed” at the behest of the BJP led central government.
