Neda Torfik
Appearances
Global News Podcast
Israel says Gaza ceasefire will end unless Hamas frees hostages by Saturday
After more than two and a half years, Salman Rushdie returned to this quaint lakeside town in upstate New York, where he nearly lost his life. At this courthouse not far from the arts center where he was due to speak about keeping writers safe that August day, he once again came face to face with his alleged attacker.
Global News Podcast
Israel says Gaza ceasefire will end unless Hamas frees hostages by Saturday
27-year-old Hadi Matar looked down as the author, wearing a suit, calmly gave graphic evidence from the witness stand. He recounted how just as he was about to speak at the Chautauqua Institute, he was aware of a person wearing dark clothes and a face mask with dark hair rushing at him. He said he was struck by his dark eyes.
Global News Podcast
Israel says Gaza ceasefire will end unless Hamas frees hostages by Saturday
During the attack, Rajdi said everything happened so quickly initially he thought he had been punched. Turning to illustrate his injuries to the jury, he described the horror of being stabbed and slashed 15 times in a matter of seconds. Lowering his glasses, he showed his blind right eye that had been sewn shut.
Global News Podcast
Israel says Gaza ceasefire will end unless Hamas frees hostages by Saturday
He held up his hand with severed tendons and nerves that he had raised in self-defense. He described a sense of great pain and shock as he had laid in a lake of his own blood, thinking clearly that he was dying. In a previous BBC interview, the Booker Prize winner said he couldn't make sense of the attack.
Global News Podcast
Israel says Gaza ceasefire will end unless Hamas frees hostages by Saturday
Inside the courtroom, jurors listened intently to Rushdie's testimony, as did his wife and friend who were also present. The 77-year-old said he is still recovering. As for his alleged attacker, if convicted, he faces 25 years in prison.
Global News Podcast
Trump's threats to seize Greenland and Panama Canal
I don't think he would. I think he is making these statements as sort of leverage. Look, when you look at Greenland as an island in the Arctic, it's very strategically placed. He's seeing Greenland in the sense that it's part of that geopolitical tension and competition with China and Russia. who have their eyes on the Arctic, of course.
Global News Podcast
Trump's threats to seize Greenland and Panama Canal
Greenland also has rich minerals, which would certainly be very beneficial to the United States. So certainly when Donald Trump makes these statements, you kind of understand that he is thinking about projecting, as I say, again, strength in terms of competition with China and Russia. It's interesting that this also comes as his son, Don Jr., is in Greenland.
Global News Podcast
Trump's threats to seize Greenland and Panama Canal
He's saying he's there just as an outdoorsman on a personal trip. But it does give a little bit of kind of trolling, doesn't it, from the Trumps. And when you look at Panama, again, Donald Trump again complained today that Panama was ripping off the United States by charging U.S. ships higher rates than other countries, that the canal was being operated by China.
Global News Podcast
Trump's threats to seize Greenland and Panama Canal
The authorities there have denied that, but clearly China does have an interest as well in the Panama Canal and Donald Trump doesn't like that. So again, these comments really do have to be seen in light of how he wants to position the United States against Russia and China in the future.
Global News Podcast
Trump's threats to seize Greenland and Panama Canal
Look, Donald Trump in these press conferences really does speak kind of on the fly. He doesn't have many scripted remarks. I don't think it's something that he would have stayed away from saying in the future if he felt like it would help him. Again, he knows how to grab attention, how to grab headlines, how to get media attention.
Global News Podcast
Trump's threats to seize Greenland and Panama Canal
And so I think that was a very calculated answer to that question to project strength.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
Mahmoud Khalil became a visible figure on Columbia University's campus. He was one of the lead negotiators that worked between speaking on behalf of the students with the university officials.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
And then what we saw were some very vocal critics of the protesters, whether it be vocal supporters of Israel in the faculty in Columbia University, conservative members of Congress going online and criticizing Mahmoud Khalil directly. tweeting at officials in government to take action against him. His wife, his lawyers have all said that his views are not aligned with Hamas.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
They have refuted all of those allegations by the administration. And they have said that the attacks and vilification of him online are not based in reality.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
Well, this was the start, really. This is going to potentially be a long case. His lawyers said as much. I spoke with a former attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, and he was very clear that this is a First Amendment case.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
He said you can go out on the street and say that Hamas is the greatest organization in the world, despite the fact that it is prescribed as a terrorist organization by the United States. And he said nobody can arrest you for doing that. He said the Supreme Court has affirmed the rights of Nazis, white supremacists, others to say what they want.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
And he said the remedy to that in the United States is more free speech, not less. And so because there is very kind of clear case law from the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, he says he cannot see how the government's case will succeed. And his wife is a US citizen. He's a permanent resident. That's right.
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
He came on a student visa, but at the time he was arrested, according to his lawyers, it seemed like immigration officials didn't realize that. And once he and his wife told the immigration officials that he was actually a green card holder, they said, hold on and made another phone call, according to his lawyers, but still arrested him anyway. And
Global News Podcast
Senior Putin aide against temporary Ukraine ceasefire
According to his lawyers, they also threatened to arrest his wife. But as you say, his wife is a U.S. citizen. She is eight months pregnant. He has a green card. So he has as much protection under the First Amendment as anybody else who is living in the United States. But the Trump administration is testing that and willing to go the distance in the courts.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
Just last night, coming home and being on the phone with family members and us kind of comparing how many drones we were seeing in the sky. I live in Union, New Jersey, and me and my husband counted about three. But my family members live in central Jersey, Somerset, and that's where we've really seen the majority of sightings the last few weeks. Last night, they counted more than 10 in the sky.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
These are large drones that are the size of bicycles, small cars. When you get close to those drones, they notice those drones kind of turn off their lights and evade police helicopters.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
My family members and friends who live in that part of New Jersey for a while now have been saying, how are more people not concerned about this? Well, it turns out many people are concerned about this. I mean, the FBI says they've gotten 3,000 tips.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
The Coast Guard has said that they themselves observed a low altitude aircraft in the vicinity of one of their vessels near Island Beach State Park, so on the coast. So now we're seeing this kind of fever pitch of people reporting and why we're seeing so many lawmakers in New Jersey coming out now and speaking openly about this.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
Yeah, we're hearing, for example, from both the White House and the FBI that there's no evidence that these reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. They say it legally. It's not happening in restricted airspace. They're not even sure these are drones.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
But what we're hearing from, for example, the New Jersey representative, Josh Gottmeier, is, you know, people can... see for themselves these drones, and that there is a responsibility from the federal government to brief the public more thoroughly, that they're just not sharing enough information.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
And that even local law enforcement, because remember, they're kind of hamstrung by existing laws, they want local authorities to be able to shoot these drones down if they want. And what I thought was really interesting was the mayor of Belleville, Michael Melham, He said, you know, we're not getting the full answers we want in briefings.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
But because there is this strong line that there's no national security or public safety threat, he wonders if it is the US government's own assets, perhaps doing research, not wanting to share information fully.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
Yeah, I think we should really stress that these aren't, you know, hobbyists with drones in the sky. I mean, these are large drones that are the size of bicycles, small cars. You know, they have blinking red and green lights.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
And in fact, when you get close to those drones, what we've heard from officials is that they notice that those drones kind of turn off their lights and evade police helicopters when approached. So, you know, even local officials are baffled by this.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
They know the federal government must know something more because you don't just have these large drones, some of them flying in patterns and have no idea what's happening. So that's why there is this clamor for more information to be given to the public, because people's curiosity is really turning into concern.
Global News Podcast
'Peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine,' Macron says after talks with Trump
Here at the U.N., what was supposed to be a symbolic moment to reaffirm Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity as it marks its third anniversary of the Russian invasion, instead turned into a dramatic day of diplomatic tension among allies. You know, you had the United States not only siding with Russia, Belarus and North Korea
Global News Podcast
'Peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine,' Macron says after talks with Trump
in the General Assembly, but Washington went a step further to produce its own competing texts in the General Assembly and in the Security Council. And the British and French ambassadors said that was done without any warning or any negotiation. The Trump administration's language didn't blame Russia for the invasion, and it didn't reaffirm Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Global News Podcast
'Peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine,' Macron says after talks with Trump
And just a few moments ago, the Security Council passed its first ever resolution on Ukraine that watered down U.S. text. Because remember, in the past, Russia has held a veto. This time around, that resolution passed. Europeans, though, are saying there can be no peace when aggression is rewarded.
Global News Podcast
Hamas says it will postpone Israeli hostage release
Today, jurors heard opening statements from both the prosecution and the defense, and they heard just how this attack unfolded in a matter of seconds, just as the moderator was two sentences into his opening. And prosecutors said that Hadi Matar... lurched over stairs and rapidly accelerated to the stage.
Global News Podcast
Hamas says it will postpone Israeli hostage release
And then he very deliberately plunged a knife into Sir Salman Rushdie over and over and over again. They said injuring him in the head, in the thigh, in the neck, on his body, stabbing him nearly 15 times. And as you mentioned there, leaving him blind in his right eye. and nearly killing him. Jurors heard about just the sheer amount of blood that was on the stage.
Global News Podcast
Hamas says it will postpone Israeli hostage release
And prosecutors said they would hear from witnesses who were there. There were 2,000 people in the amphitheater there to hear the talk. Prosecutors said they would also see videos. And then the defense spoke. And their strategy seemed to really just try to sow doubt in the prosecutor's case.
Global News Podcast
Hamas says it will postpone Israeli hostage release
They asked jurors to keep an open mind and to remember that it was the burden of the prosecution to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt. And then the court did hear from two witnesses. The second witness was actually one of the gentlemen who rushed to the stage and tackled the attacker. And he directly identified Hadi Matar as being responsible in court. What do we know about the accused?
Global News Podcast
Hamas says it will postpone Israeli hostage release
Well, Hadi Matar is a 26 year old from New Jersey. He is both an American and Lebanese dual citizenship holder. We know that he got a ticket to go to the event in August of 2022 and that he actually kind of slept on the grounds and then went inside.
Global News Podcast
Hamas says it will postpone Israeli hostage release
Now, an exact motive hasn't yet been provided, but in a separate indictment, federal investigators accused Hadi Mattar of carrying this out for Hezbollah, of seeing Salman Rushdie as someone who was a disingenuous, who had been saying things that he didn't like in his books.
Global News Podcast
As stock markets tumble again, Trump calls for a cut to interest rates
Stores like Jacobson Appliance here in Union County, New Jersey, are urging customers to make any necessary purchases quickly before price shock kicks in.
Global News Podcast
As stock markets tumble again, Trump calls for a cut to interest rates
And what impact will that have for you as a business owner?
Global News Podcast
As stock markets tumble again, Trump calls for a cut to interest rates
You've been here for over 40 years.
Global News Podcast
As stock markets tumble again, Trump calls for a cut to interest rates
Fears that a recession could be on the horizon have rattled Wall Street and Main Street.
Global News Podcast
As stock markets tumble again, Trump calls for a cut to interest rates
It's too soon to know the exact impact of tariffs on consumers, though some estimates warn it could cost U.S. households thousands more each year. And small businesses are bracing for steeper price increases. Randolph has worked in fabrication for 50 years. He knows his business might be hurt, but he thinks the president's tariffs are needed.
Global News Podcast
As stock markets tumble again, Trump calls for a cut to interest rates
Economists say that's unlikely to happen. Well, everybody has their own opinion. Donald Trump is taking his biggest gamble yet with the U.S. economy. Where he sees liberation, others see a misguided nostalgia for a long-gone era.