WORLD
Attack on Rushdie a reminder of the constant threat of fanaticism, say authors
Writer Nayantara Saghal, a long-time friend of Rushdie says she is horrified by the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie and the world of hatred and violence that we now live in. "I salute his courage as a writer and the way he has defended freedom of expression all his life. In fact, he also defended me," adds this author who returned her Sahitya Akademi award in 2015.
Putin reaffirms goal of capturing Ukraine's Donbas region
The President told international guests at an annual military forum near Moscow on Monday that the Russian army is fulfilling its tasks in the so-called "People's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk", reports dpa news agency. While Kiev accuses Moscow of the most serious war crimes and a bloody occupation policy, Putin once again claimed that "the soil of the Donbas is being liberated step by step" from Ukrainian nationalists.
Finland pushes for EU entry ban on Russian tourists
"Russian citizens did not start the war, but at the same time we have to realise that they support the war," Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday, echoing a call made days ago by Estonia. "I don't think it's right that Russian citizens can enter the EU and the Schengen area as tourists and go sightseeing while Russia is killing people in Ukraine."
Spain continues to fight severe forest fires
A fire about 60 km north-east of Alicante has destroyed about 6,500 hectares of forest since August 13, according to the state TV station RTVE. Around 1,200 people in the area of the town of Pego had to leave their homes as a precaution, reports dpa news agency. In the autonomous community of Valencia there were two more smaller-scale wildfires.
Iran categorically denies any link with Salman Rushdie's attacker
Rushdie, 75, was left severely injured after being stabbed on stage at an event in New York state. He is now able to breathe unaided, BBC reported. He has faced years of death threats for his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses'. Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused Iran's state media of gloating about the attack, calling its behaviour "despicable", BBC reported. Iranian media have extensively commented on the attack, calling it "divine retribution".
FBI 'stole' passports during Mar-a-Lago search: Trump
"Wow! In the raid by the FBI of Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else," Trump wrote on Monday on the Truth Social network he co-founded, dpa news agency reported. "This is an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our Country. Third World!" It remains unclear why Trump only spoke out about this a week after the search of his property in the US state of Florida. The raid followed suspicions that Trump may have violated the Espionage Act and other laws by taking classified documents from the White House when he left office in January 2021.
UN denies hampering Zaporizhzhya nuclear checks as battle rages
Ukraine and Russia have been accusing each other for weeks of firing on Europe's largest nuclear power plant, potentially provoking a nuclear catastrophe. The southern Ukrainian site is occupied by Kremlin troops and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the situation in a phone call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday, dpa news agency reported.
Russia accuses British reconnaissance aircraft of border violation
An RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the British Royal Air Force "illegally crossed" Russia's state border in the Arctic area of Cape Svyatoy Nos, the Russian Defence Ministry has said. The British aircraft was discovered over the waters of the Barents Sea, and a MiG-31BM fighter scrambled in response and forced the plane out of the Russian territory, the ministry was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. It was rare for military planes of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to breach Russia's airspace, news reports said.
Pro-Trump protest outside FBI office called off as no protester turns up fearing a trap
A Sunday demonstration outside the headquarters in the nation's capital was first promoted by the far-right Falun Gong-backed Epoch Times, who reported shortly after the August 8 raid at Trump's Florida residence that a veteran named Adam Hardage had called for a demonstration on the following Sunday "to protest the out-of-control FBI and its actions against President Trump".
Trump says 'temperature has to be brought down'
He called it a witch hunt in which the FBI could take out and put in what they wanted. He warned " terrible things could happen, even as the FBI and the DoJ viewed it as a veiled threat similar to ones before January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection and began tightening security measures. Trump said he "will do whatever" he can "to help the country", after the FBI's raid of his Mar-a-Lago home last week, telling Fox News Digital that the "temperature has to be brought down", while stressing that the American people are "not going to stand for another scam."
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