The man convicted for the brutal attack on author Salman Rushdie during an event in western New York has been found guilty of attempting to execute a decades-old fatwa issued by Iran’s government. The attack on the esteemed British author serves as a chilling reminder of the enduring shadow cast by this fatwa.

Hadi Matar, 28, was already serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted of attempted murder last year for his 2022 knife assault. This vicious incident left Rushdie severely injured, resulting in blindness in one eye and significant nerve damage.

A swift verdict from a federal jury in Buffalo on Wednesday concluded that Matar was guilty of all charges. The charges include attempting to offer material support to the Iran-affiliated Hezbollah, committing an act of international terrorism, and providing material assistance to terrorists, as reported by Reuters.

Matar now faces the potential of a life sentence, with sentencing scheduled for November 3, marking a significant conclusion to this high-profile case.

Federal prosecutors argued that Matar had been enraged by Rushdie’s 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses,” which portrayed a fictionalized version of Muhammad that many Muslims saw as blasphemous.

A year later, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or a religious edict, urging Muslims across the world to kill Rushdie. Iran’s government later backed away from the fatwa, only for Khomeini’s successor, Ali Khamenei, to reaffirm it in 2017, Reuters reported, citing the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said Matar, who was born in the U.S. but has Lebanese citizenship, spent more than a year studying the fatwa before attempting to fulfill it. He had also turned to Islam after a visit to the Middle East years before the eventual attack.

On August 12, 2022, Rushdie was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in Mayville, New York, when Matar rushed onstage and repeatedly stabbed the Indian-born author in the head, neck, torso and left hand.

Matar’s federal trial weighed whether he had committed an act of terrorism by attacking Rushdie.

Although prosecutors acknowledged that Matar never contacted anyone in Hezbollah, they argued that without the fatwa, he never would have been motivated to try to kill Rushdie, The New York Times reported.

Prosecutors presented Matar’s notes to the jury, which referenced “Jihad” and the “need to kill him ASAP,” according to the Times.

Matar’s defense attorney, Nathaniel L. Barone II, argued that his client acted independently and was not being controlled by Hezbollah.

Prosecutors countered by showing evidence of Matar’s devotion to Hezbollah, which included a photo of him wearing a Hezbollah shirt while making a salute, an essay he wrote that praised the terrorist group and a video he created using remarks from a former leader of Hezbollah, the Times reported.

Timothy Lynch, a federal prosecutor, said in his closing statement that Matar “wanted to be forever revered as a Hezbollah martyr,” according to the Times.

Rushdie, who testified at the trial, has previously described the attack as something that took him back to the “distant past,” when he spent a decade in hiding after the fatwa was issued.

“I saw the man in black running towards me, down the right-hand side of the seating area: black clothes, black face mask – he was coming in hard and low, a squat missile,” Rushdie told “60 Minutes” host Anderson Cooper in April 2024. “I confess, I had sometimes imagined my assassin rising up in some public forum or other and coming for me in this way.”

In a tragic attempt to reach safety, at least 18 migrants have lost their lives trying to enter Ceuta, a Spanish territory adjacent to Morocco. This incident prompted a military response from Spain after an unprecedented number of people breached the border and flooded the small exclave.

Amidst the turmoil, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is set to visit Ceuta alongside Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, with their arrival anticipated on Friday morning.

Describing the harrowing scene, Rachid Sbihi, head of a local worker’s association for Civil Guard officers, termed the situation as a “serious humanitarian crisis.”

“Even now, migrants continue to cross the border,” he commented, noting that the reinforcements currently present are focused on aiding the injured and handling other humanitarian tasks.

With no proper refuge, countless migrants, including many children without parental guidance, are left to fend for themselves. Many were seen sleeping on sidewalks and in parks, while others wandered the streets, displaying the chaotic nature of the crisis, he explained.

Among the 18 who died, many drowned but some were also killed in the stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach, Sbihi said.

Video footage on Thursday showed crowds of people, mainly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach onto local roads.

While most appeared to be young men, there were also families with women and small children.

“Viva España!” some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the AP.

It was not immediately clear what prompted so many migrants to cross to Ceuta.

Amid controversy, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is championing a new law aimed at enhancing transparency in food delivery services. This initiative is stirring debate as critics warn it could lead to increased food prices due to its demand that delivery platforms cease concealing tipping options for couriers.

This legislative push follows a directive established by Mamdani’s administration, which is seeking to enforce a measure passed last year under his Democratic predecessor, Eric Adams, who did not finalize it with his signature.

Allegations against UberEats and DoorDash by the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) cite these companies for obscuring tipping buttons and setting a default tip at a mere 10 percent.

Mayor Mamdani has asserted that such practices have dramatically reduced the gratuities earned by delivery workers, slashing tips by as much as 79 percent.

Emphasizing the impact of the new policy, he highlighted that within just the first half of this year, the reform has returned $104 million to the pockets of delivery workforce members.

He added: ‘This is only the beginning.’

Many online saw this as not just Mamdani embracing the excesses of the left but abandoning his so-called affordability agenda.

‘Is Zohran Mamdani really bragging about making Uber Eats and DoorDash more expensive for New Yorkers? I guess his “affordability” agenda doesn’t extend to New Yorkers who order in take out,’ wrote one critic. 

Columnist Jonathan Levine added: ‘All the millionaires and billionaires using UberEats and DoorDash now going to pay more! Hurray!’

‘Great idea! Everyone loves being forced by apps to pay higher tips. This will definitely boost Mamdani’s approval ratings,’ added entrepreneur Rajat Suri.

‘Maybe DoorDash and UberEats can insert a “compelled by Mayor Mamdani” tooltip into the tip section to fairly attribute this brainwave.’

One critic slammed Mamdani for bloviating over a law that he had nothing to do with passing.

‘Hey Zohran Mamdani: Nice try! You even take credit for laws you didn’t pass. The NYC Council enacted these delivery-app laws in 2025 before you became mayor. Customers still aren’t required to tip and they can leave $0 if they choose,’ wrote Sam E. Antar. 

‘Apparently rewriting history is easier than writing legislation.’ 

Mamdani did respond to claims he was stealing credit from Adams for the law in a statement to Fox News.  

‘A law is only as good as its implementation,’ a spokesperson said. 

‘We have been intentional about enforcing the laws on the books so that we are putting money back into the pockets of working New Yorkers.’ 

Technically, the rules were finally put into practice on January 26, weeks after Mamdani took office. 

The city argues that the law was necessary after DoorDash and Uber Eats hid tipping menus when the city enacted a minimum wage law for delivery workers.  

‘DCWP estimates those changes cost workers an estimated $550 million in tips,’ the city claimed.

Apps can now offer 10 percent, a custom tip or the option to leave none. 

The city said that in the four weeks before the law was implemented, delivery workers were earning an average of $1.18 per delivery.

That increased to $2.29 per delivery, nearly double, in the four weeks after the law was implemented. 

They also claimed that the new law had ‘no measurable impact’ on the number of orders placed via the apps. 

The minimum wage law and the tipping laws have allegedly increased earnings for delivery workers by $2billion in the past three years.   

‘We changed the law, enforced it, and it’s working: $104 million has gone back into the pockets of the workers who keep this city fed, rain or shine. New York will not allow billion-dollar tech companies to boost their profits by taking money from working people,’ Mamdani added. 

Mamdani’s first year has seen mixed results, as his initial friendship with President Donald Trump has faded amid the mayor’s criticisms of Israel and threats to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A poll released Thursday by CNN showed 30 percent of the country viewing Mamdani favorably, as opposed to 35 percent unfavorable.

While that was an overall negative, it was still a better approval rating than many Democrat and Republican lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer.