Man charged with attempted murder of Salman Rushdie

The man suspected of stabbing novelist Salman Rushdie at an event in New York on Friday has been charged with attempted murder. Hadi Matar, 24, has appeared in court and has been remanded without bail. The award-winning writer remains in a critical condition. We hear from A. L. Kennedy about Rushdie’s influence on her work as a writer, and expert on U.S.-Iranian relations Trita Parsi.

Also in the programme, a U.S.-based rights group says that a terrorism court in Saudi Arabia has jailed a women’s rights activist for thirty-four years over comments she posted on Twitter calling for reform; and – almost a year after the militant group seized power – Taliban fighters disperse dozens of female protesters in Kabul demanding rights to work and political participation.