Salman Rushdie attacked in the US

An unidentified man attacked Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie ahead of his lecture in Chautauqua, New York, according to the Associated Press.

The journalist of the agency said that the man broke onto the stage of the educational center Chautauqua Institution and 10-15 times hit the 75-year-old Rushdie with his fists and a knife. The state police said the assailant stabbed Rushdie in the neck and also hit a man on the head who was talking to the writer on stage.

The writer was transported by helicopter to the hospital. Rushdie's agent Andrew Wiley told The New York Times that the writer is undergoing surgery.

The attacker was arrested. The network published his photo.

• In 1988, Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses was published, which caused protests in Muslim countries, where it was considered blasphemous. Iran banned the book, and in 1989 Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the writer's death.
• A reward was set for Rushdie's assassination in Iran, which was increased from $2.8 million to $3.3 million in 2012. Rushdie himself said that "there is no evidence" that people are interested in such rewards. In 2012, Rushdie published a story about his life after the "Satanic Verses" controversy called "Joseph Anton: A Memoir".