Briefly

UNITED STATES

Suspect in Rushdie case pleads not guilty The man accused of stabbing novelist Salman Rushdie in western New York pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges on Thursday and was held without bail. Hadi Matar, 24, is accused of wounding Rushdie, 75, on Aug 12, just before The Satanic Verses author was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalized with serious injuries. Matar was arraigned at the Chautauqua County Courthouse on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury that charged him with one count of second-degree attempted murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault.

FINLAND

Leader slams leaked private dancing videos Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday said she was upset that videos of her dancing at private parties were published online as they were meant to be seen only by friends. Marin, 36, spoke after a twominute video of her singing and dancing with well-known local influencers and artists spread on social media and in Finnish media on Wednesday. The clips were originally posted to a private Instagram account. Marin, who became the world's youngest serving government leader in December 2019, said she knew she was being filmed but never thought the videos would become publicly available. Many Finns have voiced support for the young leader for combining a private life with her high-profile career.

GERMANY

Scholz denies helping bank avoid tax payments Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday denied helping a bank avoid paying back millions in tax rebates claimed under a huge fraud scam as he answered to a committee investigating the scandal. Scholz was appearing before a parliamentary panel in the northern state of Hamburg. Political opponents have called on Scholz to provide more information about meetings he had in 2016 and 2017 with private bank M.M. Warburg that faced demands to repay millions of euros in tax refunds it had wrongly claimed for share trades. Scholz has previously stated that he doesn't remember details of the meetings, but denies that he intervened to get Hamburg officials to drop the repayment demands. Opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democrats said he didn't believe Scholz's memory lapses.

Agencies via Xinhua