Rushdie bodyguard apologises

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

LONDON

Aug. 26: Indian-born writer Sir Salman Rushdie on Tuesday settled a legal suit after the author of the book, who was his former police bodyguard, apologised about the contents of the memoirs.

Sir Salman had objected to his portrayal in the book, On Her Majesty’s Service, written by former Metropolitan police officer Ron Evans, who guarded him for three years during the period of fatwa issued against him by Ayatollah Khomeini over his book, Satanic Verses. The book is being printed by John Blake Publishing Ltd. Sir Salman had warned the publisher of the memoirs by Evans to withdraw the book or face legal action. Excerpts from the book had recently been published in a series in the Daily Mail. The high court judge hearing the case made a "declaration of falsity" against Mr Evans.

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Qatar teen killed in race attack

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

LONDON

Aug. 26: A Qatari teenager, who was targeted and beaten up in a racially-motivated attack, died in a London hospital on Sunday night.

Sixteen-year-old Moha-mmed al-Majed was in Britain to learn English and was studying at Hastings, a seaside town in East Sussex. He along with his friends was attacked by a group of local youths outside a takeaway kebab shop. In an unprovoked encounter, Majed was beaten up by the gang and suffered serious head injuries on Friday night. The police is considering the murder as a racially motivated attack. The police has already arrested four people in connection with the case.