The Latest Breaking News from Salman Rushdie

Losing yourself in a great novel is one of life’s joys. Here our critics Ceri Radford and Chris Harvey pick the books you need to read

When Yusuf Islam – the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens – had his first child, he wrote her a song. Her name was Hasanah and the song was a kind of ABC of the Muslim faith:

On October 5, 1988, when India became the first country to ban the import of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, some commentators chose to take a potshot at former diplomat and politician Syed Shahabuddin. They ranked him as the world’s most influential literary critic, their point being that his…

The subtitle to the controversial film The Lady of Heaven is “the untold story” and it looks as though it’s going to remain untold, at least in Britain, now that Cineworld has pulled the film out of concern for the safety of its staff. The latest outbreak of censorship is…

Author Sir Salman Rushdie, actor Damian Lewis and broadcaster Clare Balding were among the well-known faces recognised in the Platinum Jubilee list.

Sports stars Rio Ferdinand and Moeen Ali are also recognised in 2022 list

Sir Salman Rushdie, Sir Quentin Blake, Damian Lewis and Stella McCartney are among the famous names being recognised

Euan Blair is awarded MBE, Arelene Foster becomes dame, and Rio Ferdinand and Damian Lewis recognised

The author is among the three people named for the Companions of Honour rank.

Here is a look at the various ranks and what they mean.

Studies show men avoid female authors. Ahead of the Women’s prize for fiction, chair of judges Mary Ann Sieghart finds out why – and we ask male authors to redress the balance