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A14 PEOPLE / ARTS
Monday 31 october 2022
US sanctions Iranian group that put bounty on Rushdie’s life

By Fatima Hussein waver in its determina-
Associated Press tion to stand up to threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — The posed by Iranian authori-
U.S. is imposing financial ties against the universal
penalties on an Iranian- rights of freedom of expres-
based organization that sion, freedom of religion or
raised money to target belief, and freedom of the
British-American author press,” said Brian Nelson,
Salman Rushdie, who was Treasury’s under secretary
violently attacked in Au- for terrorism and financial
gust at a literary event. intelligence. “This act of
Treasury’s Office of Foreign violence, which has been
Assets Control sanctioned praised by the Iranian re-
the 15 Khordad Founda- gime, is appalling. We all
tion, which issued a mul- hope for Salman Rushdie’s
timillion-dollar bounty for speedy recovery following
the killing of Rushdie. He the attack on his life.”
wrote “The Satanic Verses,” The U.S. has hit Iran’s gov-
which some Muslims con- ernment with a host of
sider blasphemous. sanctions this year for a va-
American officials say riety of actions related to
as recently as 2012, the human rights abuses.
15 Khordad Foundation Author Salman Rushdie appears during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 18, Financial penalties were
raised its bounty to $3.3 mil- 2018. The U.S. is imposing financial penalties on an Iranian-based organization that raised money imposed on Iran’s govern-
lion, claiming the full sum to target British-American author Rushdie, who was violently attacked at an August literary event. ment after the death of
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
would be given to anyone 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in
who assassinated Rushdie. western New York. rested. blatant assault on freedom September.
Sanctions records show the An Associated Press report- Secretary of State Antony of speech and an act of She was detained by the
organization was created er witnessed the attacker Blinken said the organiza- terrorism.” morality police, who said
in 1979. confront Rushdie on stage tion is also being designat- The sanctions and desig- she didn’t properly cover
Rushdie’s agent says the at the Chautauqua Institu- ed for diplomatic penalties nations deny the group her hair with the manda-
author has lost sight in one tion and stab or punch him for “providing financial sup- access to any property or tory Islamic headscarf,
eye and the use of a hand 10 to 15 times as he was be- port for an act of terrorism.” financial assets held in the known as the hijab. Amini
as he recovers from an at- ing introduced. The author He said the U.S. condemns U.S., and the ability to trav- collapsed at a police sta-
tack by a man who rushed was pushed or fell to the the attack on Rushdie “in el to the U.S. tion and died three days
the stage at the event in floor, and the man was ar- the strongest terms as a “The United States will not later. q

‘Black Adam’ takes top spot at box

office again

By Lindsey Bahr tion costs, and a sequel has genre has not been the
Associated Press not been officially greenlit. most reliable bet at the box
(AP) - “ Black Adam,” the But big changes are afoot office lately, with films like
Dwayne Johnson-fronted at DCthe studio just an- “Bros” stumbling in theaters,
DC superhero film, kept its nounced a new leader- but the star power of Rob-
hold on the No. 1 spot at ship team of Peter Safran erts and Clooney is proving
the North American box of- and James Gunn, whose hard to resist. “Ticket to Par-
fice in its second weekend love for propping up little- adise” added $10 million
in theaters. Down 59% from known comic book char- from 3,692 North American This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Dwayne
its launch, and facing little acters is well-documented. theaters, bringing its do- Johnson in a scene from “Black Adam.”
new competition, “Black And on Sunday, Johnson mestic total to $33.7 million. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
Adam” added $27.7 mil- posted a note to his 344 Globally, it’s grossed $119.4 tic total to $92.4 million (on throughout the pandemic.
lion in ticket sales, bringing million Instagram followers million to date. Horror mov- a $17 million budget), while It’s a genre that continues
its domestic total to $111.1 about the end of the world ies, meanwhile, claimed “Halloween Ends” land- to kill it at the box office
million, according to studio press tour, thanking those spots three through five on ed in fifth place in its third time and again.”
estimates Sunday. who worked behind the the weekend before Hal- weekend with $3.8 million. This weekend also saw the
Johnson spent a decade scenes to launch “our NEW loween on Monday. Lions- “Ends,” which has grossed expansion of several no-
trying to bring the character DC FRANCHISE known as gate’s “Prey for the Devil” $60.3 million in North Amer- table films, like Todd Field’s
to the big screen and has BLACK ADAM.” opened in third place with ica, was released simulta- “ Tár,” which expanded to
visions for follow-ups involv- Bucking recent romantic $7 million from 2,980 the- neously on NBC Universal’s 1,087 theaters nationwide
ing Superman. But the fu- comedy trends, moviego- aters. Notably, it is the only streaming service Peacock. where it grossed $1 million
ture of “Black Adam” is not ers remained curious about of the three horror films that “This is just another man- and landed in 10th place.
written quite yet, though it’s “Ticket to Paradise,” Uni- carried a PG-13 rating. The date in favor of horror,” Cate Blanchett’s perfor-
earned $250 million world- versal’s Julia Roberts and others were R-rated. said Paul Dergarabedian, mance as a renowned
wide. The Warner Bros. film George Clooney destina- Paramount’s “Smile” took Comscore’s senior media composer and conductor
carried a hefty price tag tion romp, which fell only fourth place in its fifth analyst. “It’s not just about won her a top acting prize
of $200 million, not includ- 37% in weekend two to weekend with another $5.1 being in October, horror from the Venice Film Festi-
ing marketing and promo- claim second place. The million, bringing its domes- movies have played well val last month. q