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Federal prosecutors are investigating whether the Islamic fanatic accused of repeatedly knifing Salman Rushdie onstage last year had ties to any foreign governments or terrorist groups, according to a report.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, who is overseeing the New York state case against 25-year-old Hadi Matar, told Semafor that the US Attorney’s Office has launched a separate probe into the suspect’s potential links to international organizations.

Matar, the son of Lebanese immigrants living in New Jersey, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder in the frenzied attack on the celebrated British American author at a literary festival in upstate New York last August.

Rushdie, 75, who was the target of an infamous Islamic death edict in 1989 over his book “The Satanic Verses,” was left blinded in his right eye.

Schmidt said his office is wrapping up its preparations for Matar’s trial, which could start as early as next year. Hadi Matar, 25, who is accused of nearly killing celebrated author Salman Rushdie, is reportedly being probed by the Department of Justice over his potential ties to a foreign government or a terrorist group. Dan Cappellazzo

But the Department of Justice’s concern, which Schmidt said was outside his jurisdiction and above his “pay grade,” is whether Matar, who was known to have spent time in Lebanon, may have been radicalized or trained by the Islamist militant group Hezbollah.

At the time of his arrest on Aug. 12, 2022, Matar was found to be carrying a fake driver’s license bearing the name of a top Hezbollah commander.

There are some areas that we have to sort of confine ourselves to the four corners of the charges that we’ve asserted, which is essentially an ‘attempted murder in the second degree’ charge. That’s our top count, Schmidt told the outlet. That gets us away from some of the underlying motivations that went into the intent. Some of that have been sort of removed from us in our jurisdiction, and that’s something that the US Attorney’s Office has been looking at and they are dealing with. Rushdie, 75, lost sight in his right eye after being repeatedly stabbed at a literary festival in upstate New York last August. PA Images via Getty Images

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment Friday.

A main question from the attack has been whether Matar was a lone wolf or acted on behalf of Hezbollah or the Iranian regime.

Matar’s mother, Silvana Fardos, has told the New York Times that her son traveled to Lebanon in 2018 and likely stayed with his father in the town of Yaroun, which is known to be controlled by Hezbollah. Pro-Iranian Hezbollah fundamentalists burn an effigy of Rushdie on Feb. 26, 1989, accusing him of blasphemy for his book “The Satanic Verses.”AFP via Getty Images

Matar returned from that trip a Shiite zealot devoted to Iran’s Islamic revolution, according to his mom, who publicly disowned him in the wake of the attack on Rushdie.

The famous victim — and Indian-born Booker Prize winner — spent years in hiding with police protection after Irans Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, in 1989 calling for his death over the alleged blasphemy of the novel The Satanic Verses.

Nearly a decade later, the Iranian government distanced itself from the order, saying it would not back any effort to kill Rushdie — but the fatwa was never officially revoked.

In an exclusive jailhouse interview with The Post just days after his arrest, Matar praised the late Khomeini as a “great person” but would not say whether he was inspired by his fatwa against Rushdie.

The suspect denied being in contact with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and indicated that he was acting alone when he decided to drive up to Chautauqua after coming across a tweet about Rushdies upcoming visit.

I dont like the person. I dont think hes a very good person, he said about the Midnights Children writer. I dont like him. I dont like him very much. Hes someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.

Tehran denied any role in the near-fatal attack on Rushdie last year but said, “Regarding the attack against Salman Rushdie in America, we don’t consider anyone deserving reproach, blame or even condemnation, except for [Rushdie] himself and his supporters.”

Rushdie, who also suffered nerve damage to his hand, has not blamed any foreign entities for the stabbing that nearly ended his life.

Asked about Matar’s upcoming trial, Rushdie told BBC News in July that he is not sure if he can “be bothered” to face him in court.

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Environment

Kia’s electric van breaks the Guinness World Record, driving 430+ miles carrying a full load

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Kia's electric van breaks the Guinness World Record, driving 430+ miles carrying a full load

Kia’s electric van, the PV5, set a new Guinness World Record after driving over 430 miles on a single charge… with its max payload.

Kia’s electric van sets a new Guinness World Record

Who said electric vans couldn’t get the job done? Kia’s electric van just broke the Guinness World Record for the greatest distance travelled by a light-duty battery-powered electric van with maximum payload.

Powered by a 71.2 kWh battery, the Kia PV5 Cargo drove 430.84 miles (693.38 km) on a single charge. Even more impressive, it was carrying a full load. The electric van lasted nearly two days, covering 22 hours and 30 minutes of driving without charging.

Kia’s record-breaking run took place on September 30, 2025, in Frankfurt, Germany, using an unmodified PV5 Cargo L2H1 model.

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The route was specifically designed to replicate real-world scenarios. Kia said the electric van covered over 36 miles (58.2 km) in the city, navigating traffic lights, intersections, and roundabouts, with typical city traffic. It also achieved an elevation gain of about 1,200 ft (370 meters).

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Kia PV5 Cargo sets new Guinness World Record

Kia’s electric van completed the loop 12 times while carrying its max payload, finally coming to a stop on the twelfth run.

“Even if Kia is new to the LCV market, this record is a testament to the versatility and innovation behind Kia’s first PBV, showing that we are serious contenders,” Kia’s European boss, Marc Hedrich, said.

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Christopher Nigemeier, Senior Engineer at Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center, in the PV5 during the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD attempt (Source: Kia)

The fact that it ran for almost two full working days on a single charge, “speaks volumes about its real-world capabilities,” Hedrich added.

According to Kia’s internal tests, adding 220 lbs (100 kg) of payload reduces the PV5’s range by only around 1.5%.

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Marc Hedrich, President & CEO at Kia Europe (left), with Joanne Brent, GUINNESS WORLD RECORD adjudicator (right) Source: Kia

The PV5 is a midsize electric van and Kia’s first dedicated model from its new Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) business. It’s built on Hyundai’s E-GMP.S architecture. The flexible EV platform supports several variants.

Kia currently sells the PV5 in Passenger (for personal use) and Cargo (for businesses). Over the next few years, it plans to introduce seven body types, including Light Camper, Wheelchair Accessible, and open-bed models.

The PV5 Cargo offers up to 4.4 m3 of load space and a max payload of 1,740 lbs (790 kg). It’s available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, with WLTP driving ranges of 184 miles and 258 miles, respectively.

Kia plans to launch additional electric vans, including the larger PV7 in 2027 and the even bigger PV9, due out around 2029.

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Technology

Palo Alto Networks debuts automated AI agents to fight cyberattacks

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Palo Alto Networks debuts automated AI agents to fight cyberattacks

Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, looks on during the closing bell at the Nasdaq Market in New York City on March 25, 2025.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

Palo Alto Networks on Tuesday launched new artificial intelligence agents that allow customers to automate certain cybersecurity actions.

The new agents, known as Cortex AgentiX, can handle threat intelligence investigations, respond to email breaches and can be deployed across various security vendor platforms. The tools will be available starting Tuesday through several of Palo Alto’s current cloud services, and will launch as a separate platform next year.

The new AI agents are meant to meet growing demand from customers for more automated capabilities, CEO Nikesh Arora told reporters and analysts last week. Most agents, he added, will have a human middleman to review.

In the age of AI, companies are racing to find new methods to fight increasingly sophisticated and complex cyberattacks. Earlier this month, cybersecurity firm F5‘s stock dropped 10% after it said it suffered a nation-state hack.

Arora said he’s concerned that some enterprises are still “under the illusion that they are extremely secure.”

Palo Alto Networks is in the midst of a watershed shake-up as it integrates its $25 billion acquisition of Israeli identity security vendor CyberArk.

Shortly after the news broke, Arora told CNBC that the deal integrates CyberArk with Palo Alto’s AI and security aspirations.

“We look for great products, a team that can execute in the product, and we let them run it,” he said.

WATCH: AI is changing the world, cybersecurity has to keep up, says Palo Alto Networks

AI is changing the world, cybersecurity has to keep up, says Palo Alto Networks

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Politics

Trump’s Truth Social moves into prediction markets with Crypto.com

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Trump’s Truth Social moves into prediction markets with Crypto.com

Trump’s Truth Social moves into prediction markets with Crypto.com

Truth Social wants to “democratize information” for its 6.3 million users with a social media prediction platform developed in collaboration with Crypto.com.

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