Salman Rushdie has made his first in-person public appearance since being hospitalised for nine months after being stabbed repeatedly last year. Rushdie, who sustained multiple wounds, leaving him blind in one eye and struggling to write, said he felt great and was happy to be among writers and book people at the annual gala of literary and free expression organisation PEN America, where he was once president. Founder of Saturday Night Live Lorne Michaels and Iranian dissident Narges Mohammadi were among those scheduled to be honoured.
Canada's Parks agency is planning to re-write the bronze plaques commemorating the country's heritage, re-examining texts on 650 historic sites deemed important for understanding the country's past. Roughly two thirds of current plaques are deemed fine, but 200 are deemed priority sites for change because they exclude the Indigenous people's contributions or use inappropriate, colonialist or outmoded language. The effort is said to be partly driven by a 2015 report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Some have criticised the plans, noting that assessing historical figures by present standards is "presentism", but agency director Pat Kell said the changes are intended to "broaden the stories told" rather than "erase familiar ones".
Australia’s media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has said that footage of a violent dispute between neighbours, posted on social media platform TikTok, was a breach of privacy and should not have been shown by network A Current Affair. The segment showed footage from 19-year-old Jack Stokes, who captured a fight with a neighbour and posted it on the site, in which the neighbour’s face is seen. Nine Network aired the footage in March 2019. ACMA said Stokes had not obtained consent from the neighbour and that there was no public interest in the material.
Amnesty International has argued that three Iranian men who were executed on Friday were given “grossly unfair” trials to deter dissent. Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi and Saleh Mirhashemi had all been accused of killing two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Basij volunteer force and a police officer during anti-government protests last year. Each was also convicted without adequate evidence after confessing under torture, according to rights groups. In total, seven people have now been executed with five others still on death row in relation to the protests, during which an estimated 500 people may have died.
The Stronach Group's racetrack in Maryland, Laurel Park, is once again under scrutiny over horse deaths while the government-funded renovation plan for the facility has stalled. The renovation project, which was meant to improve Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, another Stronach-owned Maryland track, is yet to take off because the expected cost is far beyond the $375m already committed by the state. Laurel Park closed for a week in November after seven horses died, while two horses were put down after getting injured in consecutive races. The track has seen 321 horses die since 2014, according to figures compiled by Horseracing Wrongs from freedom-of-information requests. Meanwhile, the group faces the prospect of paying tens of millions in federal tax if it receives public money to renovate Laurel Park. The delays means construction costs will be higher while the bonds will raise less money than anticipated and may push the company to sell the track to a government agency in order to avoid the charge.
Beyoncé has released a remix of her song "America Has a Problem" featuring Kendrick Lamar, the pair's second collaboration after their work on "Freedom" from the singer's 2016 album Lemonade. The remix, which features on Beyoncé's Renaissance album, has Lamar rapping about artificial intelligence in music and his membership of Beyoncé's fan base, the Beyhive. The musician also refers to his double entendre lyrics and the "encore remnants". The surprise release comes as Beyoncé makes the UK leg of her world tour, which began in Sweden.
The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Irene Tracey, has defended the right of feminist Kathleen Stock to speak on campus, calling it a matter of “freedom of speech”. Stock, who quit as a lecturer at the University of Sussex following controversy over her views on gender identity, is due to speak at the Oxford Union later this month. Some student groups have called for her invitation to be cancelled and a protest is to be held on the day of the talk. Tracey said that enabling students to deal with differing viewpoints is part of the university’s role.
Rishi Sunak's Future Fund has experienced losses due to failed start-up bets. The fund, which was established to provide emergency support to start-ups at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, has made a net loss of £63.7m. The fund invested £1.1bn into 1,190 start-ups, with over 100 of those going bust. The Future Fund only sees a cash return when the companies it invests in are sold or turned public.
Exclusive: Paul Whelan tells CNN he’s confident ‘wheels are turning’ toward his release
CNN
23-05-21 20:59
US citizen Paul Whelan, who was wrongfully detained in Russia, has spoken to CNN from his prison camp in Mordovia expressing his confidence that his case is a priority for the US government. However, he hopes his situation could be resolved faster. “I feel that my life shouldn’t be considered less valuable or important than others who have been previously traded,” he said. Whelan has been imprisoned for 52 months and has concerns that he could be left behind, particularly after the Russian authorities wrongfully detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
