Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The author was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained. Rushdie's condition was not immediately known. Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses” has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Read:Gunmen kill 4 in attack targeting lawmaker in NW Pakistan A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie. Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million. Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward. That year, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa.

A 40-year-old man was killed while his brother sustained serious injuries when a group of assailants attacked them with sharp weapons in the district's Hathazari upazila Friday night. Police and family members of the victims attributed the attack to a financial dispute pertaining to a local madrasa in the Kala Badshahpara area of Mirzapur union of the upazila. The deceased was identified as Hossain Elahi, 40, son of Lotu Mistri. His brother, Momen Elahi, sustained serious injuries in the attack. According to locals, the two brothers were having tea at a tea shop in the area when the assailants suddenly fired at them and then attacked them with sharp weapons. Also read: Shariatpur journo attacked for shooting video of woman being thrashed The two seriously injured brothers were rushed to Hathazari Upazila Health Complex from where they were shifted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Hossain died of his injuries at 10.30pm. Mohsin, the brother-in-law of the deceased, said the attack came in the wake of a financial dispute at the local madrassa. Hathazari Model Police Station officer-in-charge Mohammad Rafiqul Islam said that "efforts are on to nab the accused". Also read: DU: JCD activists, campus journo attacked by BCL