Indian-born British-American author Salman Rushdie has been named Companion of Honour, an exclusive club of 65 members honoured for their services to the arts, science, medicine, and government. Rushdie is leading the list for his longstanding services to literature.  

Leading authors, including Salman Rushdie and fellow Booker prize winners Margaret Atwood and Yann Martell, call on Bangladesh's government to put an end to a spate of deadly attacks on atheist bloggers.